Legacy of the Hurricane
by Utahron
Summary: Derek's help is needed when Ninja Storm gets flattened by an unlikely enemy--- the Wild Force Rangers! Novel version of Hurricanger VS Gaoranger, with new elements. Enjoy! First part of a two parter. Pls R&R!
1. Prologue

I do not own power rangers, Saban and Disney do. However I do own everything in this story which is created by me.  
  
Legacy of the Hurricane : Prologue  
  
Millions of years ago, when the Earth just formed, there was a raging battle between the gods of the universe and an unspeakable force of evil. Fearing that the newly formed planet would be used for the benefit of evil, the gods made certain precautions that would be able to save the Earth in times of great urgentness. Neighbouring planets like Triforia and Mirinoi also had them. They include the Power Coins, the Zeo Crystals, the Turbo Powers, etc. One of the last gods who left the planet was Sarough, the god of justice. Before leaving, he placed on Earth seven ninja morphers. Namely three Wind morphers, two Thunder morphers, the Samurai Cyclone morpher and at last, the Hurricane morpher. As time passed on, the Wind Morphers and the Thunder Morphers were handed down from generation to generation by two of the greatest ninja academies ever, the Wind Ninja Academy and the Thunder Ninja Academy. The team of students from these academies known to all of us as 'Power Rangers Ninja Storm' now currently keep these five morphers. However, no one knew where the last two morphers were, it seemed as though they had never existed. Little did anyone that deep inside the modern streets of a small area known as Hong Kong, a third ninja academy secretly existed, training those whom were worthy to become warriors of peace and protectors of the innocent. Locked away and put in a secret area of the academy ------ laid the Hurricane Morpher. 


	2. The Legacy Begins

'Damn!' I cursed under my breath as I raced down a pedestrian-filled street. If it hadn't been for the basketball game, then I could've been walking slowly. If I was late again, sensei is gonna kill me for sure!  
  
I ran into a deserted backally, and seeing no one around, pressed the button below the soda can on the ground, opening the entrance to the academy. I slowly tip-toed into the gym, but was surprsied to see it completely empty.  
  
'Where is everyone?' I thought as I headed over to the center. Suddnely, I sensed some movement as I reered back instantly. Out of nowhere, a ninja sprang out of thin air and attacked me. Panicking, I rolled away as I blocked his chop.  
  
'Ok, now it's pay back time!' I yelled as I swiftly removed my outer clothing and revealing the black ninja outift I wore inside. Swiftly I jumped into the air and sent a wave of electricity at my attacker. 'Hurricane Clash!' The attacker just stood there, as if my attack was nothing and in a flash, he deflected the blast at me.  
  
'Crash!' I fell back onto the ground in pain as the attacker stood next to me, ready to deliver the finishing blow. I closed my eyes tightly as I prepared for death....  
  
'Get up!' a voice said sharply, a voice so familiar that I popped my eyes open again!  
  
'Sensei!' I yelled as I jumped up. 'Very funny, you scared me to death back there!' I grumbled.  
  
Sensei looked at me with his cold eyes and sighed. 'A ninja should always be prepared for the unexpected. From what you did just then, I can see that you have not trained hard at all. Ten flips now, for being late!'  
  
With a look of annoyment, I started to do the flips, then proceeded with my training the rest of the time. After a few hours, I dragged my exhausted body out of the academy when one of my fellow train-mates and best friend Jeff came running up along.  
  
'Yo man!' He roared cheerfully, his messy hair shooting in about 12 different directions. 'Tiring practice, eh?'  
  
I couldn't help to grin. 'Very tiring, that is!' I added. 'Don't know what's going on, the training sessions are getting more and more intense.'  
  
'Tell me about it. Maybe something's coming up. Something big!' he joked as he slapped me on the back and sent me sprawling forward. 'Anyway, have you heard of the new team of Power Rangers? I heard they're ninjas too!'  
  
I shrugged my shoulders. 'Yeah, I saw the reports about them. Hope we could be like them someday.'  
  
Jeff just shook his head. 'No way, those guys are pros, and we're still in training. Whose stupid enough to let a bunch of kids defend the Earth?'  
  
'I guess you're right.' I sighed as I kicked a piece of stone on the pavement as it soared into the air. 'Well, I'll see you tomorrow then. Gotta finish my work from school, later!' I signaled as I ran to my block.  
  
That night, I had a horrible nightmare. Monsters were everywhere, destroying everything in sight. I was in my ninja outfit, but the others were nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, the whole academy was strapped onto my back as I strained under its weight. Monsters ripping at me, the academy getting heavier! Finally I collpsed under its weight, I was dead!  
  
I was totally freaked out the next day, images of yesterdays dream kept flashing in my head. I couldn't concentrate, I couldn't think! Before I knew it, it was already time for my training again. On my way, an old lady tripped and fell down. Thinking I'd better help her, I helped her all the way back to her apartment.  
  
As I closed the door, I nearly tripped as I glanced down at my watch. It was 7:15! Sensei was gonna kill me for sure this time. I ran up onto the roof, double-checking that no one was able to see me, I used my ninja powers to leap through all the buildings as I landed into the back ally in less than a minute. However, the door didn't even budge when I pressed the button again.  
  
'Great!' I thought, 'Now I'm locked outside.' Seeing no other option, I quietly crawled in through the training pipe which lead straight into the gym. However, there were no sounds of training like there usually was as I moved closer inside. The silentness was actually kind of scary.  
  
I removed the grate that was blocking my way as I landed onto the mat. 'Oh my god!' I cried as I saw the whole place. Even through the dim lights, I saw bodies laying lifelessly on the ground. Blood was smeared onto the once plain white walls, the tidy equipment was now scattered everywhere as if someone was searching for something.  
  
Slowly, I tip-toed through to see if there were any survivors. Suddenly, something or someone nudged my foot. I looked down quickly as I saw something that made my blood boil.  
  
'Jeff!' I yelled as I saw my dying friend lying on the ground. 'Hang in there buddy, you're gonna be ok.' I comforted, tears starting to well in my eyes.  
  
He must've been in real pain, but he still managed a weak smile. 'It's too late for that bro. Just let me die.'  
  
Wiping the tears, I held my friend close as I felt his body weakening. 'What happened? Who did this?'  
  
'I don't know.' He murmured, 'We were training as usual when all these monsters ran in and started attacking everyone. We tried to hold them back, but they were too strong. They were looking for something, but didn't find it, so they killed everyone.' He stopped for breath, the wounds taking their toll on him. 'Even sensei.' He blurted.  
  
I broke down! 'Sensei, sensei is dead too?' My ears must be decieving me, how could sensei be dead?  
  
Jeff's eyes fluttered a little before he spoke. 'They were too strong, even sensei couldn't have defeated them.' Slowly, he started to close his eyes.  
  
I shook him softly, my tears splashing onto his face. 'Jeff, c'mon! Hang in there, don't die yet. There's so much we still have to do together. You're just 15, there's so much more that's waiting for you!' I yelled.  
  
He smiled again. 'Remember when we thought what heaven looked like? Guess I'll be able to know soon.' Pain strained his face as he shuddered slightly. 'Derek, stay strong. Don't ever let anger consume your soul.' With that, Jeff died in my arms, his eyes closed forever.  
  
'Rest in peace friend.' I trembled as I closed my eyes in sorrow. Suddenly, a surge of faint light emerged. 'Sensei? You're alive?' I whispered, not believing what I was seeing.  
  
Sensei smiled down at me. 'No Derek, I'm already dead. This is only my spirit. Now, listen carefully, I don't have much time left. For some unknown reason, a race of pure evil known as the Insectoids which had been sent to outer space many years ago have returned. If no one stops them, they shall once again place the whole universe in chaos.'  
  
I listened carefully, not wanting to miss a single thing that sensei said. 'But what does that got to do with attacking the academy? It doesn't make sense.'  
  
'It makes perfect sense.' Sensei replied. If they get hold of the Hurricane Morpher, then their strength should be even stronger.'  
  
'Then where is this Hurricane Morpher? How could they not discovere it if it was in the academy all along?' I asked again.  
  
'Go to the end of the room. Below the mat, you should see a small hole. Place your hand on it and say these words. "By the name of justice and pure of heart, reveal yourself!"' Sensei instruted.  
  
Obeying, I did exactly as he said. As if by magic, a small wooden box shot out of the hole as soon as the words escaped my mouth. Carefully, I opened the box, and saw what must have been the Hurricane Morpher.  
  
'Derek,' sensei said, 'As of this new threat to humanity and you are the last remaining student of the academy, I hand this morpher down to you. From now on, you shall protect all that is innocent and destroy all evil that lurks. You are now the Black Hurricane Ranger!' he claimed loudly.  
  
I was simply too shocked to speak. 'But sensei, I'm not ready for this. I'm still in training, how would I be able to take on this all by myself?'  
  
Sensei looked down at my proudly. 'There is much talent in you Derek, that's why I chose you as a student in the first place. You are with no doubt, destinied for greatness. Don't worry, my soul would be there to guide you whenever you need help. Remember, the reputation of the academy now lies on you. Don't let us down.' With that, he disappeared.  
  
I knelt there on the floor, all track of time gone. The dream flashed across my mind again suddenly, but this time it made complete sense. The monsters were the Insectrons, and the academy strapped to me back implied my responsibilty of upholding the reputation of the academy. It was now my burden. I glanced at the Hurricane Morpher next to me, this little device had already changed my destiny.  
  
Suddenly, there were sounds of footsteps and in less than a second, about a dozen of tall humanoid flies ran into the room, each having a sword strapped to their sides. One glanced down at me, then the morpher. 'So it's here after all. Kill the kid and retrieve the morpher!' It yelled as they withdrew their swords and ran forward at me.  
  
Rage burned deep inside me as the creatures drew closer. I quickly snagged the morpher and strapped it onto my wrist and a small beep sounded straight away. I was surrounded as they closed around me in a circle. 'Hand it over and you'll die peacefully!' one growled.  
  
'Want to bet?' I yelled as I activated the morpher. 'Tornado Storm, Ranger Form!' In a flash, I was in a black suit with golden shoulder and leg armor and the embelm of the hurricane shone from my chest. I felt something as if it erupted from inside of me. Power. POWER! 'Power of the hurricane!' I cried as I took my fighting stance. 'Hurricane Ranger!'  
  
'What?' roared the creature in disbelief, 'Kill him!' Instantly they shot forward as 12 swords slashed in my direction.  
  
I jumped high into the air as I took out my katana and sent it down full swing at the enemy. I attacked again as soon as my feet touched ground again, sending several of the flies to their doom. One of them grabbed me from behind as another prepared to slice my head off. In the nick of time, I caught the blade with my feet and sent it hurling into the wall. I knocked them down as soon as I broke free. I scanned the area, only 3 of them remained, but they were already battered. I focused my mind as sent a great wave of energy at them, causing them to blow into pieces.  
  
In not time at all I had defeated all of them as I marvelled on the power of the morpher. It was truly extrodinary. Then suddenly, I was knocked down by a powerful force. It expertly blocked my attacks and sent me flying back into the wall. Straining to stand up, I saw the figure more clearly. It was like a spider, with mutiple hairy legs shooting out of his back, each carrying a different weapon. 'Who are you?' I asked through gritted teeth.  
  
It peered at me with its eyes and snarled 'I am Arancha, top samurai of the Inscectoid Clan. Prepare your planet for destruction human, there's no way of stopping it. Next time we meet, you're dead!' In a puff of smoke, he was gone.  
  
Confused and tired, I powered down. 'Goodbye.' I whispered as I looked at the academy for one last time. Once again, I headed out of the ally. The sun was already starting to set, a warm glow touched the buildings around. 'I won't let you down sensei.' I thought, 'This place is safe as long as I'm here. I feel no fear anymore, for the power of the hurricane lies within me.' The legacy of me, the Black Hurricane Ranger had begun. 


	3. The Awakening of the Panther

Saban and Disney owns the power rangers and I do not. However, I do own everything that is created by myself~ heh heh (Doesn't make sense, rite? ^^)  
  
(Doyles-always) - First of all, thanks for the two reviews. They have encouraged me a lot and I'm glad you enjoyed it, more to come soon. Keep supporting me, luv ya! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------  
  
Two weeks had passed since the academy was destroyed and everyone in it killed, except me that was. From the moment I morphed into the Hurricane Ranger, I knew that I had taken up a responsibilty, one that would be able to change the fate of the entire universe.  
  
Everyday, I headed over to one of the hidden mountains straight after school. There, I trained. One hour, two hours, three hours, I didn't care how long it took, or how tiring it was. I had to make myself stronger, to become more powerful. Only then would I be able to destroy the Insectrons, and avenge the deaths of sensei and Jeff.  
  
'Derek, are you ok?'  
  
I shook out of my daze as my classmate YK nudged me on the side. 'What? I'm fine. What's the matter?'  
  
YK narrowed his eyes at me and shook his head. 'Nothing, just that you seem to be thinking about something. Anything I could help?'  
  
I gave him a small smile. 'I'm fine. Thanks for caring though, I really appreciate it buddy.' I took a quick glance at my watch, time was running out, I had to continue my training again. 'Well, I gotta go. See you tomorrow!'  
  
I left the school and started to walk over to the nearby hill. Not many people knew of that place, so hopefully I wouldn't be seen. The rush hour had started as many people rushed back home, so it was hard to keep walking at a fast pace.  
  
Suddenly, screams erupted a few blocks away. Sensing something wrong, I immediately ran over to the source to see what happened. Carefully revealing my ninja outfit and placing on my mask to hide my identity, I skittered across the many buildings and looked down.  
  
'Oh my god!' I gasped! I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Injured pedestrians littered the streets, their painful cries filling my ears. Over them, stood what appeared to be a gigantic tick with long fangs on each side of its face. Slowly, it headed over to a man who laid on the floor. Without further hesitation, it raised the sword above it's head and prepared to drive it down.  
  
Right away, I jumped down from the roof and sent it down onto the floor. 'Back off, slimeball!' I roared as my feet touched ground. 'I'm giving you a chance to leave this place right now, or else don't blame me.'  
  
The creature flipped itself back up and roared in fury. 'Insectoids, attack!' Instantly, dozens of those fly monsters I defeated earlier seeped out of the ground and started towards me. I tried my best to hold them off, but there were too many of them. I got the wind knocked out of me as one of them kicked me in the stomach and sent me down on my knees.  
  
'That's it!' I said angrily as I brushed myself off. 'Time to take this to a higher level. Tornado Storm, Ranger Form!' In a flash, armor covered my entire body as I merged with the power suit. 'Protector of Peace, Strong as a hurricane, I am the Black Hurricane Ranger!' I announced as I took my stance.  
  
'And you're gonna be my dinner as well!' the Tick added as the Insectoids continued to close in once again.  
  
'Ninja Sword!' I yelled as I removed the long sword and started to block and chop at the disgusting creatures. 'Ninja Shadow Battle!' In no time at all, all of them disappeared into a pile of gunk.  
  
'Now it's your turn!' I cried as I pointed my finger at the tick. With a running start, I ran towards it as I prepared to slice it into two. Suddenly, it ducked with amazing speed and swept me down with a low kick that sent me off my feet once again.  
  
Wasting no time, it plowed itself right into me as I cried out in pain. Before I knew it, I was thrown through a wall as the creature picked me out.  
  
'Damn, this guy's so strong.' I thought as I lay face down on the cold rubble. 'How am I s'pose to defeat it?'  
  
'Derek,' a voice whispered in my mind, sensei! 'Trust your powers, they will show you the way. Remember what I taught you, A ninja should always have confidence in himeself.'  
  
'You're right!' I thought as I pulled myself up again. Concentrating hard, I walked towards the humanoid tick as I searched for its weakspot. Almost immediately, I found what seemed to be a small hole located right on its forehead.  
  
'Haha, you are so pathetic!' It laughed as it saw me walk towards it again. 'Now it's time to end your miserable life!' With that, it ran full speed at me with its sword raised high.  
  
As it was about to knock me down, I flipped across its head and swept it down onto the ground. Seeing my chance, I immediatelt thrusted my sword into the hole as green ooze spurted out in every possible direction.  
  
Luckily I had my helmet on, for the cry it let out was simply deafining. Half blinded by pain, the monster got into a frenzy as it attacked in rage. Now that it was weakened, blocking and dodging its attacks were a piece of cake. Carefully aiming my attacks, I saw my chance come when it reered its disgusting head back and let out another roar.  
  
Quickly, I dashed forward and jumped high above it as I delivered my final strike. 'Hurricane Hack!' I yelled as my sword charged up with energy. With one tremendous slash, the blade sliced the humanoid tick in two as it exploded into balls of flame.  
  
'Whew!' I whistled as my feet touched solid ground. 'Close one!' I sighed as the pain from the battle started to shoot up and down my body. At least I could rest now, that was what mattered.  
  
No sooner were the words out of my mouth as some sort of small worm-like insect crawled towards the remains of the burnt tick and somehow melted into it. Before I could respond, the ground shook. I looked up in shock as the monster grew to an enormous size, even taller than the surrounding buildings.  
  
'You think this was over? Actually it's just the beginning!' it laughed as a gigantic foot started to stomp on me. I frantically rolled away as it missed me only by inches.  
  
'Damn! How am I going to destroy it now? I don't have any weapons that would be useful!' I thought furiously as I escaped another foot attack. Unless there was a bigger and more powerful weapon, to demolish this rampaging tick was impossible.  
  
'This is just great!' I grumbled as I frantically dodged a third attack. 'Being a ranger and I'm already gonna be killed on my second mission.'  
  
'Have I taught you nothing?' The voice of sensei emerged again, deeply annoyed. 'Have faith in yourself.'  
  
'But is faith ever going to help me beat this gigantic bug?' I cried, 'It's impossible.'  
  
'Don't be so sure.' Sensei soothed, 'Your morpher has another button which will enable you be call upon your Panther Zord. Try it.'  
  
I quickly glanced down at my morpher, sure enough there was another button with a small panther symbol on it. 'Hurricane Panther Zord, awaken!' I yelled as I pressed it.  
  
Soon enough, the ground started to shake again as I saw my panther run into battle. There was no other word to describe it: cool! Immediately I jumped high into the cockpit located on its head as I manned the controls.  
  
'You're going to use an overgrown kitten to try to destroy me? Pathetic!' The tick taunted as it ran forward to attack.  
  
'Watch your words you digusting slimeball!' I yelled, 'Panther Slash!' The zord quickly ducked to the right as it avoided the attack and instantly pounced as sparks flew out from its body, causing it to fall back.  
  
Not giving it a chance to stand up, I continued to attack it expertly. In no time at all, fumes started to rise from the tick's body as it strained to regain balance.  
  
I reered the zord back as it prepared for the final attack. 'Destructor Move, Panther FURY!' the zord charged full speed as it changed into a hurricane and blew right through the tick. With one final cry, it blew up once again, this time for good!  
  
'What a day!' I sighed as I relaxed inside the cockpit. 'Well, as long as I've got you with me, I don't think we'll have a problem defating these oversized bugs!' I said to my zord. I thought I heard a soft roar after that, a roar from the panther. A roar that meant only one thing to me: VICTORY!  
  
Sorry for taking so long people, but my exams are coming up and I need to study. Anyway, I want Derek to have a "Lone Ranger" image, like Merrick from Wild Force. Does anybody have any good opinions for me to do this? Thanks a lot, keep watching!!! 


	4. Tornado Megazord, ARISE!

(cmar) Thanks for the review, I'm real glad you liked the Hurricane Ranger. More to come soon, stay tuned! Luv ya~  
  
'Man, this is so stupid!' I thought as I continued to dance with my partner. It was my first dance and the one I was holding onto was actually a girl!  
  
'Derek, you need to act more emotional!' My teacher Mr Stone called out.  
  
'Perfect!' I grumbled under my breath. Well, here's what was happening: I still continued my own training everyday, but figured out that it would only make me mentally weaker if I only put my mind onto it. So in other words, I started to join other activities, drama. There was a drama competition coming up soon, so we all needed to practice.  
  
'Derek, what's wrong?' My partner Magli asked. She was a cute girl, petite with medium lengthed hair. The smile she carried was simply amazing.  
  
'Nothing, everything's fine.' I answered, and when she looked away, I added softly 'As long as I don't need to dance!'  
  
After 15 minutes, it was finally over. Slowly, we began to pack up out things as we started to leave.  
  
No such luck! 'Hang on everyone!' the other drama advisor Ms. Grantwell said. 'I'd like to introduce you boys to the backstage crew.' She waved to 5 other girls standing near her.  
  
'Hey, not bad!' My friend Issac whispered as he glanced in their direction. That guy really doesn't miss a chance to get near to the opposite sex!  
  
'This is Lily, Stephanie, Mimi, Jenny and Kelly.' Ms. Grantwell motioned.  
  
'Hi everyone!' I smiled as I looked at each of them slowly. 'I'm Derek, please to meet you all.' Nothing special I thought as I looked. However, my mind stopped as I glanced at Kelly. There was simply no other word to describe her: beautiful!  
  
It took me a few moments time to regain my senses. I had never seen a girl like her before, so close to an angel.  
  
'Um D? C'mon, let's get going!' Issac grinned as he slapped me on the back.  
  
'Oh, right. Catch you girls later!' I waved as I headed towards the door.  
  
'You should seen the look on your face when you saw Kelly, dude!' Issac joked as we walked down the stairs, 'If I didn't know better, I'd think you were an idiot!'  
  
'Gimme a break dude!' I growled as my face started to go red and hot. Was it really obvious when I looked at her?  
  
Suddenly, the morpher on my wrist started to beep.  
  
'Hey, what is that thing?' Issac asked as he grabbed my arm for a closer look.  
  
I immediately tugged away, fearing that he'd know my secret. 'It's just a watch I won sometime ago. I need to go the washroom, see ya tomorrow!' With that I ran off in a huff.  
  
Making sure that no one was around, I hid in one of the spaces. My morpher showed a disturbance in the western area, a number of pedestrians were already injured. Wasting no time, I immedaitely morphed. 'Tornado Storm, Ranger Form!'  
  
With high speed and agility, I jumped and scaled the numerous buildings as I approached my destination. Carefully hiding myself for now, I peered down from above.  
  
A number of Insectoids were busy destroying everything and everyone in sight. Nearby was some sort of disgusting bug monster. The soundwaves it fired from its back was so powerful that small explosions erupted every few feet away.  
  
'That's enough damage you've done there!' I yelled as I swiftly lept down onto the scene, knocking a few Insectiods silly in the process.  
  
'Ah! Hurricane Ranger, you finally showed up!' The monster roared. 'I almost thought you were too scared to face me!'  
  
'In your dreams doofus!' I spat as I charged forward. 'Ninja sword!'  
  
To my surprise, it didn't even duck when I struck. Instead, it grinned evilly. 'Wail Waves!'  
  
Before I knew what was going on, a number of sound waves came rushing up to me as I was sent hurling a few feet away.  
  
'Those soundwaves are really something!' I thought as I got up onto my feet again. How would I be able to avoid them?  
  
Slowly, I started to run towards it. When we were only a few feet apart, I suddenly knelt down as I threw my sword at the monster. However, the waves it sent out shot in all directions as I was once again knocked backwards and my sword flew the other way.  
  
'Did you really think that old trick would work?' the creature mocked as it took a threatening step towards me. 'Now you shall pay dearly for your foolishness!' With that, it disappeared into thin air.  
  
I looked around me, but it was nowhere to be seen. 'Damn! Where'd it go?' I thought.  
  
Without warning, a pair of powerful hands grabbed me by the neck and lifted me into the air, so tight I nearly suffocated. Before I could think of a way to break free, the foul voice of the monster roared. ''Killer sonics!'  
  
Right away, I knew what it meant by 'killer'. The pain I was indiscribable, every part of my body felt as if it was going to break apart.  
  
Suddenly, an image of a medium sized gun appeared inside my head. With no time to waste, I called for it right away. 'Panther Bazooka!'  
  
Immediately, the gun materialized in my hands as I aimed it at the monster. With one powerful blast, the monster roared in pain as I was able to free myself.  
  
'That hurt!' it yelled, 'Wail waves!' Again, numerous killer soundwaves shot forward at me once again. Knowing what to do now, I rolled away and fired another blast at it.  
  
Seeing it get weaker and weaker, the time had come to finish this monster off. 'Panther Bazooka power up! Input number 6-3-2, Artus Blast!' A faint humming sound came from the gun as it slowly increased power. Streams of powerful energy shot from the tip and fired directly at the dying monster.  
  
'Boom!' A huge explosion took place as it blew into bits and pieces, I had defeated it! Just when I wondered whether it would grow into a giant again, the same worm appeared and merged.  
  
'Panther zord, touchdown!' The zord ran to my aid at great speed as I leapt into the cockpit.  
  
The zord charged at the gigantic monster, but was swung away easily as more soundwaves shot out. No matter what I did, all attacks were useless against the waving-firing maniac.  
  
'Now what? Howm' I s'pose to dodge the waves this time?' I yelled furiously as the zord crashed down onto the floor once again.  
  
'Shift into megazord mode.' A voice suddenly said, but who? I looked around, but no one was there. 'It's me, over here.' The voice said again.  
  
The zord could talk? 'You can talk?' I asked, puzzled.  
  
'Of course I can, I'm one of the most advanced zords there are!' it said. 'Now, you may stand a chance against the monster if I'm in megazord mode.'  
  
'All right then, Tornado Megazord!' I yelled as the panther switched into a robot-like structure.  
  
Once it was fully formed, dodging the attacks were easy as pie! I took every chance I had and attacked, weakening it again and again.  
  
'Power disc, lock and drop! Tiger Fang!' I cried as I inserted the disc into the slot and the power sphere appeared, giving me the Tiger fang.  
  
Slowly, I closed in onto the monster. 'Are you ready to be destroyed?'  
  
It looked at me in complete fury. 'You'll never be able to defeat me, you hear? Never!'  
  
'Well, we'll see soon enough! Tiger fang, final strike!' With one powerful attack, it blew up for sure as it was divided into two pieces.  
  
Winning once again, I withdrew from my zord and demorphed in a deserted ally. 'The monsters seem to be getting stronger, I'll have to upgrade myself as well if I want to survive.' I thought as I carried my exhausted body along the streets.  
  
Suddenly, I realized that I had left my backpack inside the toilets, with my homework inside! In other words, I'd have nothing to hand in tomorrow.  
  
I thought of various ways to explain to my teacher as I continued to walk. 'Sorry, I was busy saving the world.' I sighed softly, this was clearly one of the disadvantages of being a protector of the world.  
  
Yeah! The exams are finally finished. Hopefully I'll be able to put up new stories on again soon~ Stay tuned people!!! 


	5. A Heartbroken Ranger?

(cmar) Once again, thanks for the review. More will be coming soon~  
  
(3 weeks after the previous chapter) My body was simply exhausted. Two tests, tons of homework plus a disgusting monster, all in one day! Sometimes I just wished that I was an ordinary student. Of course, with all previous encounters with the Insectron Clan and also the training, my experience in combat was gaining more and more.  
  
As I settled down for my dinner, the news caught my attention.  
  
'The mysterious Hurricane Ranger saved the day yet again. This time by saving a number of citizens and defeating the monster. Who exactly is this hero? Seems that only time could tell.'  
  
I gave a small smile as I listened. Well, at least the effort I made saves innocent lives, that's what mattered.  
  
After finishing my work, I played on the computer for a while. Every night at about nine, I'd wait for Kelly to go online. Then, we'd talk for hours, sometimes even late into the night. It felt good to talk with her, like a very good friend.  
  
However, she was going to the US to study this coming summer. I knew very well in my own heart that it'd be my last chance to confess my feelings to her, but I was still desperately trying to work up the nerve to do so. This was something where my ranger powers came of no use at all.  
  
'Derek, time to go to bed!' My mom yelled from downstairs, 'I'm not going to call you up if you get late again!'  
  
'Okok!' I grumbled. 'My mom's at me again, gotta go. See you tomorrow!' I typed into the computer.  
  
Moments later, her message bounced out. 'Sweet dreams.' It simply said.  
  
These two words made me smile softly, how comfortable it was to hear them, especially from her. I then went to sleep with a small grin.  
  
Things were going pretty well the next day. Drama practice was kind of smooth, we finally went through the whole play.  
  
'Great work everyone!' Mr. Stone complied. 'Keep up the good stuff, we're going to be perfect!' Then he turned over to me, 'Derek, great voice and pronounciation.' He flashed a thumbs-up at me.  
  
I couldn't help grinning. 'Thanks sir, I'll continue to do my best.'  
  
Usually, we left earlier than the girls. The mats were needed to be put away today, so the whole lot of us left together. No problem for me cause Kelly was among them too!  
  
We were walking down the street when suddenly a group of Insectoids emerged out of nowhere, a monster which seemed like a mix of beetle and ant was nearby. All of them destroying everything in sight.  
  
'Ohmygosh!' Issac yelled, 'Aren't those the monsters that were seen sometime ago? What the heck are they doing here for?'  
  
I immediately tensed. 'Damn it! Why do these Insectrons have such bad timing? Am I suppose to morph in front of the whole crowd?'  
  
'C'mon Derek, let's run!' Stephanie said as she tugged my arm.  
  
Nearby, I spotted a pile of small debris which lay on the floor, a plan slowly formed inside my head. While we ran, I intentionally fell down and acted as if I was stuck.  
  
'Hey dude, you ok?' Issac said as he tried to help me up.  
  
'I'm stuck!' I faked, 'Don't worry about me, just get the others out of here first.'  
  
Seeing them disappear from sight, I immdiately hid away and thrusted my morpher out. 'Thunder Storm, Ranger Form! Power of the Hurricane!'  
  
I jumped back out to the street, only to see an Insectoid closing in onto Kelly and the crowd. In a rush, I ran away and sent a punch at the fly as it staggered in pain and laid down unconcious.  
  
'Get away from here now!' I said in a voice deeper than my usual tone.  
  
'Our friend is still stuck back there.' Issace gestured, pointing to the place where I had 'faked' my fall.  
  
'Don't worry, I'll get him out.' As I pushed them away from the scene.  
  
Without me knowing it, the monster from earlier ago approached me. 'How dare you interfere with my business, puny ranger? Especially if it is me, the powerful Frowler?'  
  
I looked at him and took my fighting stance. 'Is there a problem with that?' I asked.  
  
As an answer, Frowler lept at me with its sword. In the nick of time, I took out my own as I blocked the blow, a shower of sparks emitted as the blades came in contact.  
  
Frowler took a small step backward as it blocked my attack. 'Your skills are not bad at all ranger. It'll be fun killing you.'  
  
I dodged the slice as I kicked it in the stomach so it doubled over. 'Can it go the other way around?' I mocked.  
  
'Don't be so sure!' It yelled as I was caught of guard and got hit by the blade, causing me to kneel down in pain.  
  
Wasting no time, it continued to attack me, blow by blow, slice by slice. I became weaker and weaker as I got hit, my body slowly started to give in.  
  
In a fraction of a second, Frowler landed a double-punch at my stomach, sending me flying into the ground.  
  
'My student, seems that you are in trouble.' The voice of sensei whispered into my head again.  
  
'This bug is too fast and too strong, my powers are no match for it.' I panted through all the pain shooting up and down inside me.  
  
'Use this.' The voice said as I saw a small device in the shape of the head of a panther appear onto my wrist. 'This is the panther booster. You are able to insert different cards which will be able to increase your different abilities. The number of cards which you get will grow as your experience gains after each battle.'  
  
'Alright then!' I said as I pulled myself out of the rubble and headed over to Frowler again. I took a card out of my buckle and stuck it into the booster. 'Speed boost activated.' A robotic voice said.  
  
Instantly, I felt a surge of energy inside my body. Both my speed and agility increased as I ran at superhuman speed at Frowler.  
  
It tried to block my slice but I was too fast as the attack hit right on target. In no time at all, smoke started to rise from its body. It was time to finish it off!  
  
'Panther Bazooka!' I yelled as I caught the gun in my hands. 'Input number 7-3-3, Artus Blade!' A powerful energy blade shot out of the tip as it headed directly at Frowler.  
  
With one final cry, the foul monster was cut cleanly in half as it blew up. No sooner than the smoke started to rise when the worm once again emerged and Frowler was increased to large proportions.  
  
I pushed the button on my morpher as I called for my zord yet once again. 'Panther zord, touch down!'  
  
'Any good suggestions to beat this bug?' I asked as I manned the controls.  
  
'Better weaken it first, then use megazord mode to destroy it.' Panther replied.  
  
I instantly did what it said as the zord leapt at Frowler and clawed at it. I continued to attack it fell down onto the ground.  
  
'That hurt!' Frowler protested as it shot two streams of energy at us, causing the zord to crash backwards.  
  
'Seems like it's time, eh? Tornado Megazord sequence, engage!' I yelled as the zord shifted into warrior mode.  
  
However, the blasts kept firing, making hard for us to attack at all. With one powerful blast it sent the megazord onto the ground.  
  
'Use the power disc!' the panther instructed as sparks shot all over the cockpit.  
  
'You're right!' I nodded. 'Power disc, lock and drop! Flower frisbee!'  
  
Swiftly catching the weapon, it acted as a shield as the blasts were shot away, deflecting them back at Frowler.  
  
'Final attack, free throw frisbee!' I yelled as the megazord threw the frisbee in Frowler's direction, shooting right into it as a giant explosion occurred.  
  
With no time to waste, I demorphed and carefully headed back to my friends.  
  
'Derek, are you ok?' Issac asked as he shook me hard.  
  
'Woah, calm down bud. Luckily the Hurricane Ranger was here, he saved me. Way cool!' I laughed as I pulled him off.  
  
Later, only Kelly and I remained on the train as everyone left. It suddenly occurred to me that the debris incident was a great excuse for me confess to Kelly.  
  
I softly cleared my throat. 'Um, Kelly?'  
  
She turned her head in my direction. 'Yeah?'  
  
'Here goes nothing!' I whispered, my hands and legs were shaking even worse than when I first saw the Insectoids. 'I've been wanting to tell you this for a long time, but didn't have the nerve to do so. But after what happened today, I thought that it'd be best for me to tell you now.'  
  
She looked confused but nodded her beautiful head, urging me to continue.  
  
'I like you!' I blurted. 'I was wondering whether I'd have a chance to start a relationship with you.' I mentally kicked myself. 'You idiot! Why are you going red now?'  
  
It seemed that Kelly was surprised as her eyes popped wide open, her face also slowly turned red. 'Oh Derek, I'm so sorry. But you're not exactly my type, I don't think we're going to match.' She sputtered.  
  
In an instant, the world around me seemed blurry as my heart stopped. 'Snap out of it man!' my mind yelled at me. 'Oh, ok. No problem, I understand.' I answered as I forced a grin.  
  
'I'm really sorry, but I don't want you to get the wrong idea or anything.' Kelly said as she apologized again.  
  
My hands trembled no more, for now it felt that I didn't have hands at all. 'It's not your fault. We're still friends then, ok?' I sighed softly, hiding my sorrow.  
  
'Of course we are!' She answered, still blushing hard.  
  
I needed to leave, fast! 'Great! It's my stop here, see you later!' I waved as I quickly ran out of the compartment. All I needed was a quiet place where I could remain undisturbed.  
  
Slowly, I headed over to my training hill again. Of course I was disappointed and sad. My first attempt to express my love had failed, completely. I even wanted to cry!  
  
I could feel my heart breaking as I stared at the dark skies and shining stars up above. 'What am I going to do? How am I ever going to love another person?' I questioned myself.  
  
And there I lay for many hours, totally defeated, not by outer space aliens or monsters, but by love. A love that I had to hide inside myself from now on.  
  
Yeah! Another chapter finished. Sorry if I wrote too much mushy stuff and less action, hope you liked the 'Panther Booster', it's gonna turn really useful in future chapters. Keep watching! ^^ 


	6. Identity: Exposed Part 1

(cmar) Thanks for the opinion, I'll try my best to keep the balance between the two elements. Luv ya~ (Doyles-always) Again, thanks for all the reviews. Still glad you're still watching this, haha!!! Luv ya too~  
  
These days were some of the hardest I had ever lived. Ever since Kelly rejected me, I started to lose interest in everything I did, training turned into a way for me to express my anger and sadness. Of course, we talked sometimes, but in embarassment. A small wall had already formed between us, a wall that only time could break down.  
  
Luckily, the Insectrons did not launch any new attacks these few days, thus giving me time to get over the pain. It was hard, but I knew that I had to do it. Mourning for the rest of my life wasn't going to bring her to me.  
  
Here I was, walking back home after another 2-hour training session at the mountains. Every part of my body ached, I even twisted my leg during a small speed practice.  
  
The dampness in the air made me sweat from head to toe, I practically hated this kind of weather.  
  
Suddenly, I sensed some strange movement nearby. Hiding into a dark corner, I carefully peered out to the ledge.  
  
'What?' My mind yelled. Insectoids! About ten of them were moving around in the open space. Although I couldn't see what they were doing, it was clear that it was something bad. I immediately revealed my ninja uniform and jumped out of the shadows.  
  
'Hey!' I yelled, startling the whole lot of them as they looked up in surprise. 'What the hell do you think you're doing?'  
  
Quick as a flash, they scattered and before I knew it, they were gone!  
  
Checking where they had just been, I tried to see if there was anything wrong. However, to my amazement, everything was fine.  
  
'What were they trying to do?' I thought as I continued to search the area. I kept thinking the same question as I walked back home, whatever they were planning, I had a bad feeling about it.  
  
My worries lessened however the next day. Nothing went wrong, at least for now. I hoped that I was just in time to stop whatever plan they had.  
  
'Hey, do you think we'll make the finals?' Tina, another girl from the drama team asked me, knocking me out of my thoughts.  
  
I grinned softly, 'Yeah, hope so. We've practiced a lot recently, it's definitely going to be of some good use.'  
  
The competition was only a few days away, so again we spent a lot of time getting everything perfect. Now, we planned to give ourselves a small treat and headed over to the nearby juice bar.  
  
Before I knew it, we were walking on the same place where the Insectoids had appeared last night. 'Well, at least everything's ok.' My mind thought as I looked around again.  
  
'Derek!' I jumped in shock as I heard Kelly calling me.  
  
'Yeah?' Act cool, my instincts instructed. 'What's up?' I asked casually.  
  
She walked over to me, 'I just wanted to tell you that -'  
  
Before the words came out of her mouth, the ground below us started to shake violently.  
  
'What is going on?' Issac cried out in surprise.  
  
'C'mon!' I yelled, 'Let's get out of here now!' But as we tried to get away, the ground beneath us cracked and crumbled.  
  
I heard screams around me as the six of us fell down the hole, the last thing I saw was the swirling darkness as it enveloped me, and then I knew no more.  
  
Sometime Later  
  
My eyes slowly opened as I awoke. 'Ow, my head hurts like hell!' I cursed under my breath as I sat up. The fall was probably very big as almost everywhere was pitch-black, the only light came in small streams from above.  
  
I quickly looked around for the others, luckily everyone was there, but unconcious. 'What should I do? Wake them up or see if there's an exit?'  
  
Suddenly, I felt a hand grip my shoulder! In a flash, I twisted the hand and plowed my attacker to the ground.  
  
'Ouch!' A familiar female voice called out.  
  
I walked over slowly to see who it was. 'Ohmygosh!' I cried out as I ran forward. I had accidentally knocked Kelly to the ground! 'Why didn't you look carefully first?' I scoulded myself.  
  
'Kelly, I'm so sorry, I thought someone wanted to attack me.' I apologized as I helped her back onto her feet.  
  
'I'm sorry too.' She murmured, 'I shouldn't have done that.'  
  
'Are you sure you're ok? Did you hurt yourself when you fell down?'  
  
'Yeah, I'm fine. Hey, I never knew you were a martial artist, a good one too!' Kelly joked, causing me to blush faintly.  
  
'Nah, just some basic self defense skills.' I replied. 'Since Kelly's awake, I'll have to wait for the others then look for a way out of here.'  
  
A few moments later, everyone started to wake up. Of course they were scared, so it actually took quite a while to calm them down.  
  
'Alright, it's getting late. We'd better get going or we might never find a way out.' I said as I started to make my way around the area.  
  
Something was very wrong about this place. The underground should be plain and everything, but where we were was similar to a maze, with paths and steps. It was as if we were on a trail or something.  
  
For the next hour, we continued to walk around, but still found no way to get out of this place.  
  
'Oh man!' Issac moaned, 'I'm like so tired right now, not to mention my stomach is growling too!'  
  
I placed an arm on his shoulder and grinned. 'C'mon man, I'm sure everyone is feeling just the way you do, we gotta keep going!'  
  
'Derek's right.' Tina said, 'We can't give up, there must be an exit here somewhere!'  
  
Suddenly, a faint glow came up ahead, we must have found the way out!  
  
'Hey, let's go guys! We did it!' Issac yelled happily as everyone started to run to the source of light.  
  
I sighed in relief as I thought that we'd finally be able to leave this place. However, my joy turned into horror as I saw what was before me.  
  
'Please tell me I'm dreaming!' This was practically impossible. Other than the dozens of Insectoids who greeted us with their swords, there was yet another monster, with dozens of tubes and wires sticking out of it.  
  
Slowly, the monster nodded up its gruesome head and stared directly at us with its blood-red eyes. 'Ah, perfect! A few human beings for me to test my new powers on!'  
  
Everyone stood frozen in place, no one dared to move a muscle, all that could be heard was the thumping of their own heartbeats.  
  
'Now,' The monster roared, 'Feel the wrath of Elecsect!' It raised its hand as a surge of crackling electricity came speeding towards us.  
  
'Everyone get down!' I yelled as I quickly knocked them onto the floor, preventing them to be charcoaled.  
  
'You can duck, but you'll die in the end!' It laughed, 'Insectoids, kill them!'  
  
Every single Insectoid locked their weapons into place and ran directly at us, killing us became their only goal.  
  
I pushed them towards the way where we came in. 'Let's get outta here, fast!'  
  
We started to run as fast as we could away from the Insectoids, but they were gaining on us more and more. Finally, we came to a dead-end, we were trapped!  
  
'Oh no!' Kelly screamed, 'There's no where left to go, what are we gonna do?'  
  
'We're gonna die, we're gonna die!' Tina yelled at the top of her lungs.  
  
My mind was starting to race like crazy. There was no way I'd be able to walk away and morph like last time, and I'd definitely stand no chance against the whole lot of them unmorphed. The choice was clear: I had to morph in front of them, I'd had to expose my identity.  
  
'Guys, stand back.' I said as I stepped in front of them, blocking them from the Insectoids.  
  
'What are you doing man? This is no time to show off!' Issac cried as he tried to pull me backwards.  
  
I shook my arm free from his grip and pushed him backwards. 'I said stand back! That means everyone of you!' I ordered firmly. I pointed a finger at the lot of beasts and roared in fury. 'You want a piece of me? Bring it on. Tornado Storm, Ranger Form!'  
  
In a blazing flash, I stood fully morphed and headed directly at the Insectoids and started to attack. 'Hurrican Ranger, time to take you down!'  
  
'What? Derek is the Hurricane Ranger? That's impossible!' Magli whispered in surprise.  
  
I narrow blocked a chop aimed at my shoulder and sent a strike directly at it. 'Need a hand?' I mocked as one of its limbs flew off and landed onto the ground.  
  
With a swift leap I jumped into the air. 'This is certainly going to blow your mind! Raging hurricane!' I yelled as I sent a huge wave at the Insectoids, sending them flying in all directions and blasting goo everywhere.  
  
Seeing every Insectoid gone, I slowly headed over to my surprised friends. 'Is anyone hurt or anything?'  
  
My question was simply ignored as they gathered around me in awe.  
  
'Derek, you're the Hurricane Ranger?' Issac asked as he waved his hand in front of my visor.  
  
'Hey, cut if off man!' I laughed. 'Now's not a good time to explain, but you all have to promise not to tell anyone. If my secret gets leaked out, then everything's over.'  
  
'No problem, you can trust us, your secret is safe with us.' Tina assured. 'But I still can't believe it. You, the Power Ranger, wow!'  
  
'Huh? When did you show up Hurricane Ranger?' The monster Elesect roared. 'Great, now I'll get to kill you too. Once you're dead, Lord Centaron would definitely raise my rank. Die!'  
  
'Guys, hide in some place safe, I'll take care of it.' I yelled as I shoved them away.  
  
As soon as they were out of sight, I ran forward and delivered a kick at Elesect. However, it sent waves of electricity at me, shocking me in pain as I crashed onto the ground.  
  
Straining to stand up, I took out the Panther Cannon and aimed it at the monster. 'Fire!' I yelled as a blast headed straight for Elesect.  
  
'No way!' I cried out in surprise as Elesect completely absorbed the attack and fired it directly at me.  
  
'Boom!' I was completely knocked back by the impact as I lay on the floor in pain.  
  
'Elektra field!' It cried as a wall of high voltage electricity surrounded me. I was stuck!  
  
I tried to get through, but everytime I touched it, a large amount of pain went shooting up and down my body.  
  
'Now, you be a good lil' ranger while I finish off those puny humans first, then I'll come back to end your life soon enough. Be patient!' It laughed as it headed into the direction where the Kelly and the others hid.  
  
'Haha! You'll die first cute one!' I heard Elesect roar from a distance.  
  
'Let me go you disgusting bug!' Kelly yelled in pain and terror.  
  
Elesect was going to kill Kelly, I had to think of something, fast! If not, it'd be the end of Kelly's life!  
  
To be continued.  
  
Sorry to be hanging here, but that's all I could write for now. The second part is gonna be real exciting, I guarentee you that, stay tuned!!! 


	7. Identity: Exposed Part 2 fixed

(cmar) Thanks for your great suggestion, I'll try to work on it.   
  
'Let me go now!' Kelly's voice echoed yet once again.  
  
I was completely furious by now. Kelly was going to be killed by Elesect and I was trapped here, with no way to protect her!  
  
'Don't you ever listen to my words?' Sensei's voice filled my head, 'For countless times I've already told you to stay calm in a crisis, how are you suppose to think when you can't even take care of yourself?'   
  
'How can I stay calm?' I shot defensively, 'Kelly's going to be killed.' Absent-mindedly, I punched the net hard, and soon regret it as the electricity shot through my body, causing me to wince in pain and anger at the same time.  
  
Suddenly, a beeping sound started to hum from my buckle as the shock continued to flow up and down my veins like a dozen knives chopping away. Looking down, a new card could be seen at the tip. Without hesitation, I snatched it out.  
  
'Panther Booster!' I yelled as the device materialized onto my wrist. Instantly I flipped the card and swiped it inside. 'Armor upgrade.' The same robotic voice sounded as I gained new armor around my body as it glowed with an eerie glow.  
  
'Haaaaaaaaaa!' With one powerful burst, the electricity around me vanished, I was free! With no time to waste, I rushed over to Kelly.  
  
Elesect was already about to lay a deadly blow onto Kelly as I ran onto the scene. 'Get your filthy hands off her this instant!' I yelled.  
  
Shocked to see me alive and well, Elesect immediately seized Kelly nearer as one of its tentacles closed in on her neck. 'One more move, Hurricane Ranger, and I swear I'll barbeque her to death without thinking twice.'  
  
'Oh great, this is just perfect.' I grumbled softly. 'What do you want?' I demanded. 'Just don't hurt her.'  
  
Elesect laughed, 'Well, I kind of hate your looks now, why don't you power down?'  
  
'Derek, no! Don't listen to it, kill it now!' Kelly screamed as she tried to wriggle free, only causing Elesect to tighten its grip.  
  
'Very well then.' I sighed, 'Power down!' In a faint glow I was reverted back to my human form.  
  
'Try this on for size!' Elesect said as it sent numerous electric bolts at me as I was sent off my feet and knelt down to the floor in pain.  
  
'You alright man?' Issac asked as he started to walk over to help me up.  
  
I raised my hand to block him. 'It's ok, I'm fine. Stay back, I don't want to get any of you hurt.' Slowly, I stood up and took a step towards the monster. 'I've done what you asked for, now let her go!'  
  
'Very well then.' Nodded Elesect as it relased its grip and flung Kelly behind it.  
  
I was startled by its actions, what was it playing at? Was it some kind of trap? 'Hey, Get her over here!' I demanded.  
  
As an answer, Elesect lashed out and sent a punch at my stomach, causing me to double over in pain as I regained breath.  
  
Again and again, I was attacked blow after blow. Without my ranger powers, blocking was impossible, not to mention fighting back.  
  
'Agh!' I screamed as Elesect grabbed me by the neck and lifted me up into the air, it's disgusting face only a few inches away from mine.  
  
'Haha, looks to me it's time to kill you. Die!' It roared as a massive fist reered back with enough power to blow my skull.  
  
I closed my eyes as I prepared to die. 'I'm sorry Kelly, I couldn't save you.' I whispered inside my head.  
  
'Derek, I got Kelly, she's safe!' Tina's voice yelled into my ear as my eyes popped open. Tina had sneaked behind Elesect and yanked Kelly over while the foul creature was preparing to kill me.  
  
'What?' Elesect howled in fury as it realized that Tina had outsmarted it.  
  
'Way to go Tina!' I cheered as I took the chance I landed a kick onto Elesect's side as it dropped me in pain.  
  
As soon as my feet touched the floor, I took out my morpher once again and morphed. 'Tornado storm, Ranger Form!'  
  
I dispatched my sword from my back and headed towards the furious Elesect. 'You've had your fun, now it's my turn!' I yelled as I sliced it again and again, and avoided the electric shots that came my way at the same time.  
  
'Ninja sword power up, Hurricane style!' With a tremendous leap I jumped into the air and aimed my blade at Elesect as the whole sword charged with energy. 'Corona Crush!' With one swift chop Elesect roared in both anger and pain as its body started to blow up.  
  
'Don't think I'll give up so easily!' Elesect roared as flames licked its body. 'I won't die alone!' Suddenly, a powerful electric blast was unleashed from itself and headed straight for my friends. If they got hit, their chance of survival was a definite zero, I had to do something.  
  
Immediately, my entire body rushed up to them, life became slow motion. I could practically see the lives of my friends in my hands, in my hands alone.  
  
'Arrrrr!' I was just in time as I ran in front of the guys and blocked them from the blast. However, that only meant one thing, I got hit myself!  
  
I gritted my teeth as the flow of electricity ran through me, the pain was unbearable! My body was already battered from the battle with Elesect, but now it had taken damage far beyond imagination. I felt the ranger powers getting weaker and weaker as I reverted back to human form again.  
  
  
  
'Derek!' Issac yelled as he rushed to my side. 'Are you ok man? Don't scare us!'   
  
The world around started to blur as I felt everything starting to dim, Issac's voice seemed faraway. My body was weakening, I was tired, so tired!  
  
Suddenly, the ground below us started to shake violently, some of it even started to crumble away. If we didn't get away fast, then this palce would be our final resting place.  
  
'Oh no, it's another earthquake!' Tina yelled at the top of her lungs, 'What are we gonna do?'  
  
'Derek, hang on! I'm heading over.' A familiar voice whispered in my head, the panther zord!  
  
'Panther, it that you?' I murmured as my body strained to stand up.   
  
Just as the words escaped my mouth, a drilling sound filled the air as the Tornado Megazord emerged, drilling its way to us with the Tiger Fang.  
  
'Guys, hang on!' I called out softly, 'I'll get you all out of here.' With that I was transported inside the cockpit.  
  
'First-aid sequence engage!' Panther announced as soon as I touched the chair. Instantly, I started to feel way better, even able to fight! The battle armour covered my body automatically as soon as I was back in full health.  
  
Manning the controls, the megazord lowered its hand so that the others could climb on. As soon as everyone was safe, we bursted out from the passage made earlier.  
  
We were back! It was a great feeling to see the setting sun slowly shine down warm streams of light. However, not everything was that great, there was still one problem: Elesect! It had been grown into a gigantic form, and it must have been it who had caused the earthquake!  
  
Securing everyone to safety, the megazord headed over to the overgrown monster.  
  
'You shall now truly feel my wrath!' Elesect growled as tentacles rose from its body and wrapped themselves around the zord, we couldn't move at all!  
  
'Ahhhh!' I yelled in pain as Elesect sent dozens of shocks at us, causing the cockpit to burst with sparks. With the tentacles, there was no way for us to fight back.  
  
With one mighty kick, Elesect sent the megazord down onto the ground as it moved in further for the kill.  
  
'Panther, any good plans?' I asked as I tried to think of a way to release ourselves and destroy the monster.  
  
'Not that I can think of.' The zord replied as it suffered from another attack.  
  
Suddenly, I noticed some type of weapon that we had never used before. 'Eye beams, fire!'  
  
Burning hot laser beams fired from the eyes of the megazord as they stunned Elesect and gave us the chance to break free.  
  
'Now it's time to show you our wrath!' I yelled. 'Megazord multiplication!' In a flash, the megazord was duplicated into five as they surrounded Elesect.  
  
'What?' roared Elesect in disbelief as it stared at the many megazords.  
  
'Power disc, lock and drop! Flower frisbee!' I announced as the duplicates vanished away from the battered Elesect.  
  
'Say farewell Elesect! Free throw frisbee!' With one push of the button, the megazord threw the weapon at Elesect in an incredible speed as it yelled in pain.  
  
'Boom!' Balls of fire filled the air as Elesect blew apart, another win for me and the panther, yes!  
  
Retreating to a dark corner and demorphing, and headed back over to my friends.  
  
'Derek, are you ok?' Kelly asked as she saw me walking over. 'Are you hurt or anything?'  
  
'Nope, I'm perfectly fine, don'r worry.' I answered.  
  
'Hey dude, that megazord was way cool, how was it like inside?' Issac asked loudly as I cupped his mouth to shut him up.  
  
'What did I tell you back down underground?' I hissed, 'You know that it would be the end of me if they find out who I am.'  
  
'You're right.' Issac replied meekly, 'I'm sorry.'  
  
As it was getting late, we started to leave. I insisted on walking Kelly home because she was hurt, but I knew deep inside that it was really because I wanted to be with her.  
  
We talked a lot along the way, I even told her about sensei and Jeff and the academy.  
  
'Derek, I'm so sorry to hear that.' Kelly answered. 'It must be hard, having the fate of this whole place strapped onto you.'  
  
'Well, I don't deny it is. But in the end, I get to save a lot of lives!' I grinned.  
  
She looked at me and smiled, sending me into another daze. 'I guess you're right.' She said. 'Hey, that's my apartment over there. Thanks for walking me home, see ya!'  
  
'Kelly wait!' I yelled as she was ready to walk away. 'Were you ready to tell me something just before we fell down into the hole earlier today?'  
  
'Oh, that. It's nothing, forget about it' She blurted.  
  
I knew that there was something, there just had to! 'C'mon, tell me.' I urged. 'Don't you trust me?'  
  
Kelly looked at me. 'Derek, I do believe you. But believe me too, now's not the time for me to tell you. I'll do so when the time is right, ok?'  
  
I nodded slowly. 'Very well then. Goodnight then!'  
  
'Bye!' she waved as she walked up to the building.  
  
Thoughts raged inside me as I headed home. 'What was she going to say? Maybe that she felt that she's starting to like me?'  
  
'Don't be stupid.' Another voice in my mind piped. 'She already said that you're not the guy for her.'  
  
I sighed softly as I lifted my head to the skies. 'What am I supposed to do?' I asked. Then, I turned away and continued down the path.  
  
'What would come, would come. No one would be able to stop it.' I murmured to myself. The only option I had was clear: wait. Whther it was good or bad news, I'd know when the time came.  
  
Whew! Another chapter finished, I just couldn't stop writing. I'm still thinking whther to put Derek and Kelly together, tell me what you think! 


	8. The Trip to Blue Bay

(cmar) Thanks once more from the bottom of my heart. Sorry about the format problem but I've already corrected it, the "flat" "apartment" thing has also been fixed. Thanks for letting me know.  
  
'Derek, you were so cool back there!' Issac exclaimed as he gave me a playful punch on the chest.  
  
We were at the park, and I had just defeated another member of the Insectron Clan. Now that my friends knew my secret, it was now a way for them to be nice by saying how cool or good I was. Not that I don't appreciate it, but after a while, it gets kinda annoying.  
  
'Yeah, yeah.' I laughed. 'Thanks.'  
  
'By the way,' Tina asked, 'How does that Panther Booster or whatever work? What does it do anyway?'  
  
I smiled a little to myself; Tina really is a want-to-know-it-all. 'Well, there are these special cards which come out of my buckle.' I explained. 'Once these cards are inserted into the booster, it will be able to enhance my abilities like speed or endurance.'  
  
'How many cards do you have in total?' Issac piped in.  
  
'I dunno, the number of cards I get increase by my experience.' I grinned as I stood up. 'Anyways, I have to get going guys, there's still this project I have to finish. See ya!'  
  
'Derek!' my mom called out from the kitchen as soon as I stepped into my apartment. 'There's a mail for you on the table.'  
  
'Thanks!' I called back as I headed over to the living room and picked up the letter. Immediately I teared it open and peered into the contents.  
  
My screams must've been so loud that even Mars could hear it!  
  
'Son, what's wrong?' My mom yelled as she ran from the kitchen.  
  
'I got it!' I yelled, waving the letter like a lunatic.  
  
'Got what?' Mom asked, completely confused with a frown on her face.  
  
My eyes shone brightly as I continued. 'You that 2-week scholarship course I applied for? Well, they accepted me.'  
  
Now it was mom's turn to look excitied. 'That's wonderful! I'm so proud of you son. Where are you going to then?'  
  
I looked at the letter again. 'Blue Bay.' I answered. 'I heard that it's this really great place.'  
  
'So when will you be going?'  
  
'Um. a week later.'  
  
Mom smiled. 'Then you'd better get ready.'  
  
A week passed by real quick, and here I was now: Blue Bay International Airport. Streams of golden sunlight greeted me as I stepped out of the building. Everything was so beautiful, so full of energy!  
  
After a half-hour drive. I arrived at the house of my hosts, Mr. and Mrs. Jelkinson. They were really nice people and their house was breath taking as well, with a complete sea-view and everything.  
  
'Derek,' Mr. Jelkinson said while we had dinner, 'You'll be having your classes at Blue Bay High School until the afternoon. Unless the school had planned any activites for you, I hope that you'll come back right away. You know, with Blue Bay's current monster problems, it's not quite safe.'  
  
I nodded my head. 'No problem, I understand. So these monsters, do they appear often?' I just had to know more about them; perhaps they had a connection with the Insectoid Clan?  
  
'Well, not always. But from time to time.' Mrs. Jelkinson replied. 'Luckily there are the Power Rangers here, or else this place would have been destroyed a long time ago.'  
  
My head jerked up at the mention of the Power Rangers. 'They are another reason why I was so excited about coming here, they are so cool. I just wish I'd have a chance to meet them.'  
  
Mr. Jelkinson grinned at me. 'You'd better hope not, cause whenever the Rangers are near, trouble will also be some place around.'  
  
The remaining part of dinner ended in laughter. Here I lay now, in my room. Excited to be in a place where another team of Rangers were, and excited to be going to school tomorrow. And maybe, just a little scared.  
  
The next morning, Mr. Jelkinson drove me to Blue Bay High School. 'Well, this is where I say good bye.' He told me as the car pulled into the praking lot. 'Have fun, I'm sure you'll enjoy yourself. See you after school!'  
  
'Bye, Mr. Jelkinson. Thanks for the ride.' I said as I got off and headed inside the school. I was almost near the entrance when some guy came zooming by on a skateboard, almost knocking me over.  
  
'Woah, sorry man!' he apologized as he expertly skidded to a halt and leapt off the board. 'Are you ok?'  
  
'Yep, no problem.' I said as I took a closer look at him. He was tall, way taller than I was, with a well-built body and bulging muscles. And the strangest thing was: He was almost wearing red all over. 'You're really good.' I complied, flashing him a grin.  
  
'No way!' He joked. 'Hey, I haven't seen you around before, you new around here or what?'  
  
'Oh, I'm the exchange student from Hong Kong and starting today. The name's Derek. Derek Ho.' I said as I offered my hand.  
  
'Hey, nice to meet you. I'm Shane Clarke.' He replied extending his hand also and shook mine. 'Hey, how bout taking you to the principal, I think you'll need to see him first.'  
  
'Sure, sounds great.'  
  
So the two of us headed down the hallway and after a couple of turns, arrived at the Principals' Office. I knocked and opened the door.  
  
'Ah, Derek! Glad you could find your way here.' The Principal, Mr. Charter boomed as he walked over to me.  
  
'I got a little help.' I said, nodding my head over to Shane.  
  
Mr. Charter nodded his head. 'Shane, I was just looking for you. You're assigned to be taking care of Derek for these two weeks. You know, show him around, make sure he feels comfortable.'  
  
'No problem, count on me!' Shane laughed.  
  
'Well, the two of you might want to get going, don't be late for your first class.' Mr. Charter said. 'Derek, hope you'll enjoy your stay here.'  
  
'I'm sure I will, thanks.' I said.  
  
Shane and I walked through the hallway again as we approached the classroom.  
  
'Dude, there you are!' A boy yelled out to Shane as soon as he opened the door, he had medium length hair, a goofy grin plastered onto his face, and same as Shane, wearing almost the same color all over. In this case, yellow.  
  
'Morning Shane.' A blonde girl greeted as she walked over with the boy.  
  
'Hey guys!' Shane waved.  
  
'Who's this?' The yellow boy asked as he nodded at me.  
  
Shane looked at me. 'Oh, this is Derek. He's that exchange student from Hong Kong and will be staying here for about two weeks. I'm gonna be keeping an eye on him.' Then he turned towards me. 'Derek, these are my friends. Waldo Brooks.'  
  
I dunno why, but the yellow boy had a look of slight anger when his name was mentioned.  
  
'Please,' He said as I shook his hand. 'Call me Dustin, I hate the name Waldo!'  
  
'Hey, no problem!' I grinned.  
  
'And this is Tori Hanson.' Shane continued.  
  
'Nice to meet you. Hope you'll have fun here.' The girl smiled.  
  
I nodded my head. 'I'm sure I will.'  
  
The rest of the day was spent in happiness. Knowing a few friends here was definitely something great, and Shane, Tori and Dustin were all very nice. After a few hours, school was finally over.  
  
'Hey Derek,' Dustin said as I slinged on my backpack. 'Want to go to the mall?'  
  
'Great idea, let's go!'  
  
On our way to the mall, we started talking about the monsters and attacks.  
  
'It must be hard to keep on studying when there are all these monster constantly attacking.' I said.  
  
Tori nodded her head in agreement. 'Yeah, and those guys have really bad timing.'  
  
'Tori's r- '  
  
Dustin's words were cut off when a beeping sound started. Somehow, the beeping was somehow similar to that of my own morpher's.  
  
'Derek, I forgot something back at school. Just go to the mall first, we'll meet you up later.' Shane said as the three of them turned away.  
  
'Hey, hang on a sec.' I yelled as I ran after them, but they were nowhere to be seen. 'That's weird, where'd they go?' I thought.  
  
Suddenly, my ninja senses alerted me with a disturbance nearby. 'But this is not your area. Why should you help? This city has their own team of protectors.' My inner self told me. Somehow, I lost that argument as I hid in a corner and changed into my ninja uniform.  
  
Quick as a flash, I headed over to the place of disturbance: some sort of park. A battle was already raging there, three Power Rangers in red, yellow and blue were already fighting with some sort of car-like monster and a team of monster ninjas.  
  
Somehow, the three of them were no match for the monster as they fell to the ground after an explosion. Just as the monsters started to close in, three other rangers jumped onto the scene. A green one, and another red and blue.  
  
'You guys all right?' The red one asked as he helped the fallen rangers up.  
  
'Ah, you're all here! Time to finish you off.' The monster yelled as energy bulbs dispatched from its body and surrounded the rangers as they yelled in pain.  
  
There was no other option left, I had to help the rangers. Without thinking twice, I leapt out of the bush. 'Hey, hold it right there!' I yelled.  
  
'Who the heck are you?' the monster roared.  
  
I thrusted out the Hurricane Morpher. 'You want to find out? Tornado Storm, Ranger Form!' In a blinding flash, I was transformed into the Hurricane Ranger as I took my fighting stance.  
  
'What?' I heard the rangers yell through their pain. 'Another ranger?'  
  
Sorry to take so long to update, but I've been busy over here. Don't worry, I'll update again soon! 


	9. Ninja Morphers Reunited!

'What? Another ranger?'  
  
I ignored the surprised cries of the trapped rangers; they'll have to know everything later on. In a quick flash, I dodged the beams fired from the monster and lashed out my sword as I attacked.  
  
Sparks flew in every direction as I slashed again and again at the monster. 'Hurricane hack!' I yelled as I sent the energized blade at the monster's skull as more sparks danced around.  
  
Seeing it weaken, I called up my final strike. 'Panther Bazooka!' I targeted the gun straight at the monster as soon as it materialized. 'Input number 9-6-2 Corona Sting!'  
  
However, as the gun energized, the monster reared its head and let out a deafening howl of anger. 'This isn't over ranger, you haven't seen the last of Carza!' And in a puff of smoke, it was gone!  
  
'Woah!'  
  
I turned my head around as I saw the six rangers fall back down onto the ground. Now that Carza was gone, its powers were also.  
  
Slowly but carefully, I walked over and helped them up. 'Are you guys ok?' I asked as they groggily got back up on their feet.  
  
'Who are you?' The deep red ranger asked as he suddenly aimed his weapon at me, completely knocking me off guard.  
  
The other red one quickly grabbed hold of him. 'Hunter, hang on! He just helped us, I'm sure he's on our side.' He assured.  
  
The green ranger with the golden shield stepped forward. 'I think it'll be best if we contacted my father first.' He said as he raised the communicator up. 'Dad, it's me.'  
  
A voice crackled from the other side. 'Yes Cam, I'm aware of the situation. I think it'll be best if you bring our special guest back to Ninja Ops first.'  
  
'Yes father.' Then he turned over to me. 'You wouldn't mind going to our base with us right? We mean you no harm.'  
  
I nodded my head. 'Are you sure?' As I looked at the ranger they called Hunter.  
  
'Don't mind him dude, he's just had a bad hair day.' The yellow one joked.  
  
'Very well then.' As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I was enveloped by light.  
  
It was the strangest feelings ever as the world around me rushed past at high speed. As soon as the light faded, I found myself in some sort of large room.  
  
'Welcome to Ninja Ops.' The blue female ranger said as I looked at my surroundings.  
  
Suddenly, the six rangers bowed slightly. I knew that it was a sort of greeting when the sensei entered the room, but where was he?  
  
'Greetings ranger, I thank you for assisting my students.' A voice said as I looked down, only to see some sort of hamster in strange clothing looking up at me.  
  
I turned my head to the green ranger. 'Don't tell me this hamster's your sensei.'  
  
The yellow ranger giggled. 'Um dude, he's a guinea pig. You see, it's like thi-'  
  
'Dustin, perhaps you'd allow me to continue the story. But first, I think it'd be better if you all demorphed.' The guinea pig sensei said.  
  
Nodding, the six rangers obeyed. In a flash, they stood there in there human form. My eyes dropped open as I noticed three of them.  
  
'Shane? Dustin? Tori?' I gasped.  
  
With confused looks, the six looked at me. 'How do you know us?'  
  
'Power down.' I sighed as my ranger suit dissolved away, revealing my own identity.  
  
Now it was their turn to look surprised.  
  
'Derek?' Shane asked as he rubbed his eyes.  
  
'That's me.' I grinned, 'Big surprise huh?'  
  
'You guys know each other?' The shorter male ranger asked.  
  
Tori nodded. 'We met him this morning, he's an exchange student from Hong Kong and Shane's s'pose to keep an eye on him.'  
  
The sensei spoke once again. 'It's good that you have already met. Now, Derek is it?'  
  
I nodded my head as an answer.  
  
'Again, thank you for helping my students. Perhaps I should start by introducing myself. My name is Kanoi, sensei of the Wind Ninja Academy. These are my students Shane, Tori and Dustin you already know.'  
  
The male ranger from earlier ago walked up to me. 'Hi, I'm Blake Trejo, Navy Thunder Ranger.' He narrowed his head to another serious-faced ranger, the one who tried to attack me. 'This is my brother Hunter, the Crimson Thunder Ranger.'  
  
'Hey, sorry 'bout that bit I did back there.' Hunter said.  
  
'No worries.' I smiled.  
  
'And this is my son Cameron, Green Samurai Ranger.' Sensei Kanoi continued, pointing to the tall Asian boy with glasses.  
  
He extended his hand, which I shook. 'Please, call me Cam.'  
  
'I'm Derek Ho, Black Hurricane Ranger. It's really great to meet you all.' I said as I introduced myself.  
  
The sensei looked quite surprised when I metioned the word "hurricane". 'If you don't mind me asking, are you from the Hurricane Academy and trained under Sensei Huang?'  
  
'Yeah.' I replied.  
  
'He was a good friend of mine, an excellent Ninjitsu master. How is he?'  
  
Visions of sensei's death reappeared before my eyes once again. 'He's dead, murdered.' I croaked.  
  
A look of sadness swept across his guinea pig face. 'I'm sorry to hear that. What happened?'  
  
I took a deep breath as I forced myself to remember. 'Well, it's a long story. An insect ninja clan known as the Insectrons attacked Hong Kong and were in search of the Hurricane Morpher which was hidden inside the academy.'  
  
Kanoi nodded, telling me to go on.  
  
'They didn't find it, so they killed sensei in anger, and also every single student inside the academy. I was late for training, so was able to escape that gruesome fate. Being the last student of the academy, sensei passed on the morpher to me. I've been fighting the Insectrons ever since.' I said.  
  
'Sensei,' Shane asked, breaking the silence. 'Is Derek's powers connected to ours?'  
  
'As a matter of fact, yes.' He answered. 'Millions of years ago, there was a tremendous battle between good and evil. Fearing that Earth would be used for the purpose of evil, the god of justice Sarough therefore created these seven morphers which you all are having now, which would be able to aid Earth in times of great urgentness. The three Wind Morphers were passed on from generation to genration inside our academy, while the thunder morphers were as well by the Thunder Academy. The Samurai Cyclone Morpher and Hurricane morpher were known as the "lost ones", until now.'  
  
Cam interrupted suddenly. 'That's because I found the Samurai Morpher when I went back in time, right?'  
  
'This is correct son.' Kanoi nodded. 'But I never knew that the Hurricane Morpher was hidden inside the Hurricane Academy. This is a very special moment indeed, for the first time since they were created, these "brother" morphers are once again reunited.'  
  
I had a strange feeling too. It was funny, how after all this time, the seven morphers are finally once again together.  
  
While I was drowned in my thoughts, the huge computer started to ring.  
  
Cam immediately ran over to the computer. 'Carza's back, and remodified.'  
  
'What?' gasped Tori in shock. 'We gotta stop it.'  
  
'It's near the rocky mountain area. We'll have to use the Tsunami Cycles to get there.' Hunter said as he peered at the screen.  
  
Shane walked forward. 'Let's not waste any time guys.' He turned to me. 'Derek, you have some sort of transport, right?'  
  
I shook my head. 'Nope, never had that kind of stuff.'  
  
'Don't worry.' Cam said to me. 'I've been working on a new cycle. And what a coincidence, it's black! I'm sure you'll like it.'  
  
Dustin grimaced. 'Dude, shouldn't the motorcross guy get the cool cycles?'  
  
Cam grinned. 'Not always.'  
  
Kanoi fake-coughed. 'Please, I believe there is something more important for you to do.'  
  
'Ok, let's do it!' Blake sighed.  
  
'Ninja storm, Ranger Form!'  
  
'Thunder storm, Ranger Form!'  
  
'Samurai storm, Ranger Form!'  
  
'Tornado storm, Ranger Form!'  
  
The next thing I knew, I was on this mega-wicked motorcycle. It was simply awesome as the wind flopped around me. 'Heehah!' I yelled as I accelerated forward.  
  
Soon, we arrived at our destination, some sort of desert like area.  
  
'Alright. Be careful.' Hunter warned as he got off his own cycle.  
  
Suddenly, Carza rushed out of nowhere and knocked all of us to the ground.  
  
'Hey, can't you guys move a little faster?' It mocked as we stood back up.  
  
'You want fast? We'll give you fast!' Shane yelled as he ran forward, raising his sword high, ready to strike at the monster.  
  
However, Carza was too fast as it avoided every attack and with a powerful punch, hit Shane and sent him flying backwards.  
  
'It's gotten a lot stronger since last time.' Panted Shane as he once again tried to regain balance.  
  
Blake looked at Hunter. 'Let's take it down, bro!' He said as the two of them sprinted towards Carza.  
  
'Thunder Staff, full power!' They yelled as their weapons charged with energy. The same thing happened, as Carza blocked every attack.  
  
I ducked to the right as Blake was thrown over by the monster. 'Are you ok?' I asked as I helped him get up.  
  
'Yeah, I'm ok. Be careful, it's very, very powerful." Blake warned.  
  
Suddenly, something popped inside my mind. 'That's it!' I yelled suddenly, 'Panther Summoner. Speed enhance!'  
  
I ran over to Carza at incredible speed as soon as the power of the card flowed through me. Carza was really fast, but not as fast as me as it suffered from every single attack of mine.  
  
'Hurricane style, Corona crush!' I yelled as Carza screamed in pain when the blade sliced through it.  
  
The others now ran forward to help me.  
  
'Way to go Derek!' Tori exclaimed.  
  
'Let's do it guys!' Shane said as the five of them combined their weapons and formed the Thunderstorm Cannon.  
  
Cam had another move up his sleeve as well. 'Super samurai mode!' He yelled as his visor rotated and his shield was off.  
  
I called upon my bazooka. 'Panther Bazooka, input number 9-6-2, Corona sting!'  
  
Three powerful energy blasts charged at Carza as it's body started to burn. In not time at all, it was nothing more but a pile of ash.  
  
'Yes, we did it!' Dustin yelled happily.  
  
However, the ground around us started to shake as a huge scroll-like object emerged from the sky and revealed a gigantic Carza.  
  
'It's zord time!' Hunter said as the six of them called upon their zords.  
  
I raised my own morpher to my mouth. 'Panther, would you be able to come over?' I asked.  
  
'Sure, but it might take a little while.' Panther's voice crackled from the other side.  
  
I tilted my head, only to see the others forming their Megazords. However, they still were no match for Carza as it knocked them down.  
  
'Now it's time do die!' Carza laughed as it sent a punch at the Thunder Megazord, causing sparks to shoot everywhere.  
  
Suddenly, a rumbling noise could be heard nearby.  
  
'What now?' Cam yelled from his cockpit as he suffered from another attack.  
  
My fear quickly turned to delight as I saw the Panther running over.  
  
'Guys, hang on!' I cried as I jumped onto the cockpit. 'Great timing!' I grinned to my zord as I manned the controls.  
  
'We'll stand a better chance in megazord mode.'  
  
Hearing this, I quickly activated the transformation as it transformed into the Tornado Megazord.  
  
'Hunter,' Shane yelled. 'Are you thinking what I'm thinking?'  
  
'Oh yeah!' Hunter growled as a power sphere emerged from each of the megazords, only to combine into a small zord.  
  
'Megazords, combine!' the zord said as the two zords combined into one, forming the Thunderstorm Megazord.  
  
Cam unlauched his own power sphere which was some kind of bee-like weapon.  
  
'Now it's my turn!' I laughed. 'Power Sphere, locked and dropped. Tiger Fang!'  
  
One by one, we hit Carza with our attacks and in no time at all, fumes started to rise from its body. 'No, I won't be defeated so easily.'  
  
'Oh yes you will!' mocked Blake.  
  
'Let's take it down together!' Hunter said.  
  
'Megazord, final strike!' We all yelled together as our attacks combined into something huge. With a huge explosion, Carza was finally defeated, for good!  
  
After our victory, there was a small party at Ninja Ops.  
  
'You have incredible skills Derek.' Kanoi complied. 'I'm sure your sensei is very proud of you.'  
  
I smiled. 'I hope he is.'  
  
Dustin walked over to me. 'Dude, that Summoner thing was way awesome!' Then he turned to Cam, 'Why don't we get something like that?'  
  
Cam grinned. 'I think all you'll need is a maturity enhancer!'  
  
Dustin blushed as everyone laughed along.  
  
Meanwhile, I was also thinking about other things. It was a great feeling, fighting together with other rangers, it was something that I couldn't do back in Hong Kong. 'I won't let you down sensei.' I quietly promised. 'The Insectrons shall perish as long as I am still standing. I promise.'  
  
Little did I know that the spirit of Sensei was actually with me, nodding his head in agreement, a rare smile on his face.  
  
Whew! Another chapter done. I'm thinking whether to do another story in Blue Bay or to let Derek get back to Hong Kong. Tell me what you think~ 


	10. Wind, Thunder & Hurricane

(karenashleysdreamlover) Thanks for the review. Here you are, another adventure in Blue Bay. As for Derek and Kelly, you'll just have to keep on reading to find out!  
  
(Billie-Tracy) Thanks a lot. Glad you enjoyed the story. Your BlakeTori fic is also very awesome, I loved it.  
  
(Doyles-always) Woah! Lotsa thanks for all the reviews you've given me. Sorry to hear what happened to you, hope you're ok. Keep on watchin'!  
  
'Yeah, go guys!' I cheered as Dustin and the Trejo brothers raced across the motorcross track. Every since I met them after that monster battle, we hung out almost everyday after school.  
  
Shane patted me on the back. 'You want to give the skateboard another try?' He grinned, pointing at the red skateboard on the floor.  
  
The image of the fall I took a few days ago while Shane tried to teach me a trick flashed across my mind. 'Um, no thanks man. I'd rather be on my feet.'  
  
Suddenly, their morphers started to beep and everyone grew silent.  
  
'Guys, it's training time. Get back to Ninja Ops now.' Cam's voice said, deeply annoyed.  
  
I reached out for Shane's morpher. 'Cam, could I join in too? My body needs some exercise.'  
  
'Of course. Follow the others back here.' Kanoi's voice said from the other side.  
  
A few hours later, I dragged my sweating body into the main chamber. 'Never in my life, had I gone through training that was so intense. Running, an obstacle course, battle simulators. Man, I think I'm dyin'.'  
  
'Don't forget those push ups too!' Dustin reminded as he panted.  
  
Kanoi walked over across the table. 'To a real ninja, this training is just as easy as breathing.' He scoulded.  
  
Shane rolled his eyes. 'How bout a break once in a while, sensei?'  
  
'A ninja should always be prepared for any crisis.' Kanoi said.  
  
As soon as he finished his words, the alarm went off as the others rushed over to the monitor.  
  
'Cam, what's going on? Hunter asked as he stared at the huge screen.  
  
Cameron sighed. 'It seems that Lothor's new monster is in action, and that's not all.'  
  
Tori gasped in shock. 'With Zurgane, Marah and Kapri? Oh man, the whole family's here.'  
  
'Rangers,' Kanoi said. 'This may be a trap, be careful.'  
  
Cam turned back to the computer. 'I'll put Cyber-Cam online so he'll be able to help us monitor the battle.' He said as he pushed a button on the panel.  
  
In a flash, another Cam burst onto the scene. 'Yo!' He yelled.  
  
'We'll explain later.' Dustin said, seeing the shocked look on my face.  
  
'Everybody ready?' asked Blake as he got ready.  
  
'Let's do it!' I grinned. 'Tornado Storm, Ranger Form!'  
  
'Ninja Storm, Ranger Form!'  
  
'Thunder Storm, Ranger Form!'  
  
'Samurai Storm, Ranger Form!'  
  
'Ninja Ranger Power!'  
  
'The Power Rangers!' spat Zurgane in disgust as we ran over to them.  
  
Shane clenched his fist in anger. 'This time, we're taking you down!'  
  
Hunter joined in, 'That goes for every one of you.'  
  
'Prepare to die!' shrieked Marah. 'See? I am evil!' She cackled as Kapri rolled her eyes.  
  
Everyone got ready to fight as the four of them charged towards us.  
  
'Ninja sword!' I yelled as the blade barely blocked a hit aimed at my skull. 'Try this!' As the monster doubled over as I kicked it.  
  
Dustin moved in. 'Nice move D-man!' he cheered as he sent it sprawling away with an attack by his Lion Hammer.  
  
The others were also winning as the villians started to fall to the ground.  
  
'Man, this is too easy!' exclamined Tori as we regrouped.  
  
'Think again!' yelled Kapri as she snapped her fingers. 'Drainator!'  
  
The monster immediately opened some sort of lid on the top of its head. Before we had the chance to react, a strong force started pulling us inside.  
  
'Ahhhhh!' yelled Shane as he lost balance.  
  
Moving quickly, I shoved him away, but got sucked in instead, along with Hunter and Dustin.  
  
'Ow!' I yelled as my feet hit a rocky surface. Everything was pitch-black, except light from a few shimmering candles. Mist covered the floor.  
  
Hunter looked around. 'Be careful!' He warned. 'This is not good.'  
  
'You got that right!' A voice rasped, 'Cause you're all gonna die.'  
  
I spun around but saw nobody, nothing. 'Who's there? Show yourself coward!'  
  
'With pleasure.' The voice said again as that Drainator emerged from thin air. 'Welcome to my warp world, sorry that I'm such a poor host.' Without another word, it rushed towards us.  
  
'Spread out!' Hunter yelled as he got hit by the charging monster.  
  
Dustin leapt over Drainator as it continued to run. 'Ninja slash!' He cried as he sent the blade at the monster, only it cut nothing, as if the attack never happened.  
  
Fustrated, I started to attack it with my sword, only the same thing happened. No matter what I did, the attacks didn't even scratch him, but it easily sent all of us flying in pain.  
  
'Try my drain power!' It yelled with glee as some sort of energy shot through us.  
  
The instant it came in contact with me, I started to feel weaker. 'What's happening?' Before I knew it, I dropped out of morph.  
  
'It drained our morphing powers!' Dustin cried out as Hunter and himself also reverted back to ninja form.  
  
Drainator laughed, 'Thanks for the powers. Before I kill you all, how about a little game?'  
  
As soon as the words were out, the world around us started to spin, faster and faster! So fast I had to close my eyes in pain.  
  
Soon, the spinning ceased as I pried my eyes open slowly. 'Where is this place?' It looked like some kind of underground cave, a huge waterfall was nearby, the steady fall of water filling my ears.  
  
'C'mon.' Hunter motioned as he started towards the waterfall. 'There must be some way out of this place.'  
  
'And we need to hurry too.' Dustin added. 'I'm really hungry. Practically starving.'  
  
I grinned at him as I followed Hunter. 'The others must be trying to get us out.'  
  
The waterfall was simply marvellous, I had never seen something this beautiful. Without thinking twice, I dipped my hand into the cool water. 'I wonder why Drainator would send us here, what is it playing at?'  
  
I got my answer right away as the whole place started to shake, the waters slowly started to part, revealing an ugly sea monster. It was huge, with gleaming red eyes and two very, very sharp fangs that were fully exposed as it roared in fury.  
  
'Ew.' Dustin gagged, 'Doesn't this dude every brush its teeth? People die of bad breath you know?'  
  
Hunter clenched his fists. 'This guy's toast!' He yelled as he started for it.  
  
The creature slammed its webbed-hands at Hunter as it tried to smush him, breaking a large hole onto the stone floor.  
  
'Let's go!' I yelled to Dustin as I also ran towards it.  
  
Although it was three of us against the monster, we were weakened after being drained. Trying to defeat something this big was technically impossible.  
  
'Woah!' I ducked to the left as the creature sent Hunter plowing toward me.  
  
'It's no use, this guy's too strong. There's nothing we can do to fight it, not to mention we have no powers.' Hunter panted as he tried to stand up.  
  
Suddenly, I noticed a huge rock up on a small cliff next to the monster, a plan slowly formed inside my head. 'Maybe not.' I told the two of them. 'I have a plan.'  
  
Dustin eye's shone brightly as I finished. 'Dude, that's brilliant!' He exclaimed. 'Let's do it!'  
  
Looking up at the raging monster, Hunter grinned. 'Let's show this thing what the combined powers of wind, thunder and hurricane can do!'  
  
The two of them immediately tried to lure the monster directly beneath the rock as I rushed up the cliff. 'Ninja fly run!' I yelled as I ran at amazing speed to the top.  
  
As soon as I saw the monster right where I wanted it, I used all my strength to push the rock off the cliff.  
  
'Almost there Derek, keep going!' Dustin yelled.  
  
With one last bit of strength, I heaved the heavy rock off as it plummeted right on target at the monster's head as it fell down dead onto the ground.  
  
Hunter slapped my back as I walked back down. 'Way to go bro!'  
  
'Now let's find a way out of here!' I said.  
  
Suddenly, Drainator emerged again. 'That won't be necessary.' It laughed. 'Although you've defeated my monster, I'll still kill you. Prepare to go to hell!'  
  
'Brace yourselves.' Dustin sighed as Drainator moved in for the kill.  
  
Just as it was about to send a punch at my skull, the world around us started to spin again. When we opened our eyes, we were relevied to see that we were back.  
  
'You guys alright?' Yelled Blake as he ran over. 'Scared to half to death!'  
  
'Alright! Let's make it pay!' Grinned Dustin. 'Ninja Storm, Ranger Form!'  
  
'Thunder Storm, Ranger Form!'  
  
'Tornado Storm, Ranger Form!'  
  
Drainator roared in fury as smoke emerged from its head. 'No! They got out!'  
  
'That's right. They're out, and now it's time to send you down!' He said. 'Let's do it together!'  
  
'Thunderstorm Cannon, ready!'  
  
'Super Samurai Mode!'  
  
'Panther Blaster Input Number 733: Artus Blade!'  
  
The evil villians all cowered in terror as our weapons powered up, preparing to fire the final strike.  
  
'Uh, this doesn't look good.' Kapri trembled.  
  
'Let's get outta here!' squeaked Marah as she started to shake.  
  
Zurgane stepped forward. 'This isn't over rangers. Be careful!'  
  
In a flash, they were all gone, leaving only Drainiac alone.  
  
'Fire!' We yelled in unision as three powerful bursts headed straight for the monster.  
  
The explosion was deafening as Drainiac was reduced to nothing more but a pile of ashes. However, the battle wasn't over. A fully grown Drainac towered over us as the scroll of empowerment was sent down.  
  
We gathered together and summoned our zords.  
  
'Let's finish this quickly!' Hunter yelled.  
  
'Right!' Shane agreed. 'Form the Thunderstorm Megazord!'  
  
'Samurai Star Megazord!' Yelled Cam as his own zord shifted into megazord mode.  
  
I started to worry, when I found out that panther was not here. 'Panther, are you ok?' I asked.  
  
'Sorry Derek.' Its voice cracked. 'My systems were having problems earlier ago, I'm repairing now. Hold on, I'll be there as soon as possible.'  
  
I turned my head up, slightly relaxed as I saw Drainiac being flattened by the two megazords. 'Maybe they can take care of it themselves.'  
  
Just as I finished my sentence, Drainiac once again opened its head and drained the power from the Thunderstorm Megazord, causing it to lose all energy.  
  
'Cam, what's happening?' Yelled Tori as the megazord was flung away by Drainiac.  
  
'Your powers are all drained by Drainiac, even the back-up supply. There's nothing we could do.' Cam said as he also suffered an attack.  
  
Drainiac laughed evilly. 'Now it's your turn!'  
  
'Ahhhh!' Cam screamed as he suffered from the same fate.  
  
Just as we thought that everything was over, Panther came running onto the scene.  
  
'Tornado Megazord!' I yelled as soon as I jumped into the cockpit. With a swift punch, Drainiac fell down, cutting its connection with Cam.  
  
'Derek, half of my energy is gone. I won't have enough power to destroy this monster.'  
  
'Panther can't either, the systems are still slightly haywire.' I said. 'Is there anyway to destroy it then?'  
  
Just when we thought all hope was lost, Kanoi's voice came in.  
  
'Don't worry, there is a way. Combine your megazords together, I'm sending over the power discs.'  
  
Cam grinned. 'Thanks dad. Derek, let's go!'  
  
'Power discs, lock n' drop!'  
  
Instantly, the two megazords joined together as the Samurai Star combined in the front and back of the Tornado Megazord.  
  
'Tornado Megazord, Samurai Mode engage!' We both bellowed as the zord hit solid ground.  
  
'What's the use?' Mocked Drainiac as it opened its head again.  
  
I smiled, 'No way! Samurai Sheild!' The hit was completely blocked off.  
  
'Time to finish it off?' Cam asked a few minutes later, as Drainiac was completely weakened.  
  
I flashed a thumbs up. 'You bet. Megazord, power up!'  
  
Pure flashes of power ran up the zord as it got ready for the attack.  
  
'Guys, go for it!' Shane yelled.  
  
'As you wish! Samurai Tornado Slash!' The megazord lashed forward with incredible speed and with a loud crunching sound, split Drainiac into two pieces.  
  
I practically jumped up in joy as I saw Drainiac defeated for good.  
  
'Good job Derek!' The others congratulated.  
  
How fast time went by. Before I knew it, my time in Blue Bay was up as I prepared for my journey back to Hong Kong.  
  
I shook Mr and Mrs Jelkinson's hand once again as they drove me to the airport. 'Thank you for the wonderful stay, I'll never forget it.'  
  
'It was a pleasure having you with us, dear.' Smiled Mrs. Jelkinson. 'We hope you could come visit again soon?'  
  
Mr. Jelkinson nodded in agreement. 'Yeah, come back anytime, you'll always be welcome here. You sure you don't need us to take you inside?'  
  
I smiled. 'Thanks again, I can manage. Anyway, I was hoping that maybe the two of you would like to come over to Hong Kong too.'  
  
'We'd love that. Well then, you'd better get going. Don't want to miss your plane.' Grinned Mr. Jelkinson as he shook my hand once again.  
  
After that, I started to head towards the plane when I heard someone calling me. I turned my head, only to see Shane, Dustin, Tori, Blake, Hunter and Cam running over.  
  
'Whew!' Panted Blake as he came up. 'We'd thought you'd already gone.'  
  
'Hey guys.' I laughed. 'Great to see you here. Here to say goodbye?'  
  
'Yeah.' Replied Cam. 'And there's also something my dad wanted to give you.' He said and took out a small necklace-like thing from his pocket. 'It's an ancient lucky charm. My dad says that it has some hidden powers, and hope that it'd be able to help you.'  
  
I slipped in onto my neck. 'Say thanks to him for me. Anyway, it'd just want to say thanks to all of you. Working together with you guys was totally awesome. Just wish we'd get to do it together soon.'  
  
'Hey don't worry man.' Said Shane as he placed a hand on my shoulder. 'We'll see you real soon.'  
  
'Yeah!' Chimed Tori in agreement.  
  
Hunter stepped forward. 'Also, the six of us wanted to give you this.' He opened his hand, only to reveal a small replica of the black Tsunami Cycle I rode. 'The cycle will grow to its ordinary side when needed.' Hunter explained. 'Maybe it'd be of some use to you.'  
  
'Guys, I really don't know what to say. Thanks for all the gifts. I have full confidence in all of you that Lothor will be defeated in no time.' I assured as I took the bike.  
  
'Same to you dude!' Dustin grinned. 'Kick those Insectron butts!'  
  
Shane slowly held out his hand. 'Safe trip home. Call us whenever you'll need help, we'll be there right away. Friends.'  
  
Tori did the same as she placed her hand above Shane's. 'Friends.'  
  
The others closely followed.  
  
I looked at the pile of hands and smiled. 'You're right.' I said as I placed my hand in. 'Friends.' I glanced around and in a small whisper, 'Power Rangers!'  
  
The moment I said the words, the seven morphers emitted a faint glow, as if saying goodbye to each other as well.  
  
I looked down at the beautiful view of Blue Bay as the plane took off. 'I'd miss this place.' I thought. And as I looked at the pendant and bike the others gave me, tears slowly started to well in my eyes. 'Thanks guys, thanks for everything.'  
  
Whew! Sorry for the r-e-a-l-l-y long update, but I've been really busy over here, and certainly don't know how long the next one would take, but please keep watching. Well, Derek's adventure in Blue Bay is over, for now. The Ninja Storm team however, will be returning again soon. The next chapter will take place again in Hong Kong. Stay tuned! 


	11. Priority Problems

(Doyles-always) Haha, I cracked up also when I thought about it, it's cool to have some sacarsm from time to time. Don't you agree? Anyway, thanks a lot. I'll try my best to keep on writing.  
  
(Master of Perfect Chaos) Thanks for the comment. As I mention below, I'll try to make things a little more "unpredicted". Anyway, I'm wondering whether you could give me any suggestions? Thanks.  
  
(ShaneWestLover) Thanks a lot for the review! Keep on watching.  
  
This chapter starts a week after Derek's return from Blue Bay to Hong Kong.  
  
'Great!' I grumbled under my breath as I saw the long list of homework I'd had to catch up on after the trip to Blue Bay. Of course, I knew that there'd be stuff for me to do, but never had I thought that there'd be this much.  
  
As I shook my head hopelessly at the list, Issac came over. 'Yo man! There's a new movie on at the theatre, wanna go?' He asked.  
  
I half-glared at him as he finished. 'Are you trying to piss me off over here? Cause you're doing a very good job on it! Just check this list out.' I shoved him the list as he gave me a puzzled look.  
  
'Man, you ARE dead. Well, there's a price to pay.' He thought for a minute, 'And it's definitely worth it if you fought along side with the Ninja Storm Rangers. That green ranger was so cool!'  
  
Raising a hand to tell him to shut up, I sighed. 'Ok, you've been saying the same thing ever since I got back, I get the point.'  
  
As we were talking, another boy entered the room.  
  
'Well, well, well. If it isn't the dumb duo?' He sang.  
  
Issac's fists clenched in anger as I pulled him back to prevent him from pouncing on the guy.  
  
I turned my head over to him. 'Leave us alone Jacob.'  
  
He glared at me with fury. 'Why should I? This place isn't yours is it? I have the right to stay here.'  
  
'Fine, suite yourself.' I said coldly and turned to Issac. 'Let's get out of here.'  
  
'Man, why did you stop me?' Issac yelled as he jumped up and down along the corridor, 'That's guy's really getting on my nerves. Thinking that he's so great just because he scored the highest in science. Who cares?'  
  
I looked at him matter-o-factly. 'He's just trying to annoy us. Ignore him. H- '  
  
I didn't get to finish my sentence as my morpher started to beep. 'I'll catch ya later!' I said as I ran to a deserted area.  
  
*One Hour Later  
  
'I'll never die!' The monster known as Rack-pack yelled as odious fumes arose from its disgusting body.  
  
I sat inside the cockpit of the Tornado Megazord, carefully awaiting the chance for the final strike. 'Now's the time, let's do it Panther!'  
  
With a battle cry, the Tiger Fang charged up and destroyed Rack-pack as it reverted into smoke.  
  
'Whew!' I sighed. 'That was close. Anyway, thanks Panther, great job!'  
  
'No problem.' Panther replied as it sent me back down to the surface.  
  
Carefully finding a deserted allyway, and double-checking no one could see me, I demorphed to my civilian form.  
  
Suddenly, a voice startled me as I whirled around, only to see Jacob, smirking at me.  
  
'What a big surprise!' He purred. 'Derek Ho is the mighty power ranger! Who would've guessed something like this?'  
  
I walked towards him. 'Jacob, listen-'  
  
He cut me off. 'I wonder what would happen if I told this to the media? It really makes me very curious. Maybe I should try.'  
  
Clearly, he was trying to scare me.  
  
'Jacob, you can't tell anyone. Please, this is not something you should play with.' I explained steadily, although my mind started to race like crazy.  
  
'Why the heck should I listen to you?'  
  
'Because this could affect the fate of the whole universe. I know you understand.'  
  
Jacob remained silent for a few moments. 'Fine, I won't tell anyone, ok? Are you satisfied? But I'd be keeping an eye one you.' With that, he left.  
  
My feet were glued to the spot as I slowly regained breath. Jacob said that he wouldn't tell anyone, but what he said didn't sound right, it just wasn't him.  
  
If he told the media, all would be over. Just the mere thought scared me, everyone would be affected. My friends, my family, everyone who knew me.  
  
For a few days, these thoughts still troubled me. I couldn't concentrate, in class, training, in battle, everywhere.  
  
But that wasn't all. Kelly was about to leave soon, the time we'd have together was growing short. I'd had to grasp the chance I had, before it was too late. All of this mixed together, almost resulted in death during a monster attack. Never in my life, had I felt so stressed.  
  
Knowing that I'd be in real danger if this continued, I looked toward my only solution- Sensei. Heading towards the inner mountains, I sat down and meditated.  
  
'Seems like you are troubled my student.' Sensei's voice whispered as I concentrated.  
  
'I am, sensei. What could I do about it? Am I getting my priorities wrong?'  
  
Sensei chuckled lightly. 'You have matured a lot ever since I handed down the morpher to you.'  
  
I groaned. 'Sensei, is this really the right time?'  
  
'Listen to me first. Before, the word "priority" wouldn't even have appeared in your head, except when there was fun. Now however, you are willing to think about your actions.'  
  
I was silent for a moment as I thought about sensei's words. 'Well, I guess you're right. But what am I supposed to do?'  
  
'There is nothing wrong with your priorities. All you need to do Derek is to believe in yourself. Remember what I taught you at the academy, inner strength is what makes a successful ninja.'  
  
Without warning, the morpher on my wrist started to beep.  
  
Sensei spoke before I could even start. 'I can sense a strong energy surge. Now go! I have faith in you, do what you believe is correct.'  
  
'Thanks sensei.' I replied as I stood up. 'Tornado Storm, Ranger Form!'  
  
With no time to waste, I took out the mini-cycle Cam gave me. 'Tsunami Cycle!' With a loud roar, I sped off to where the monster was.  
  
Screams of terror were heard by civilians as they ran to safety when I arrived onto the scene. With a swift jump, I leapt off the cycle and sent an Insectoid sprawling to the ground.  
  
'Hey, why don't you pick on someone your own size?' A voice growled behind me.  
  
Without warning, a punch knocked me out of my senses as I started to turn around. Ignorning the stabbing pain, I slowly stood back up.  
  
My attacker was a 7-foot tall, muscular-looking warrior monster, with various heavy metal plates covering its body.  
  
Carefully, I dispatched my sword from my back and with a tremendous leap, twirled around the monster and sent down an attack.  
  
To my horror, the sword left nothing but a few scratches on the giant. Before I could react, it gripped me hard with its huge hands and lifted me above the ground.  
  
'Might as well give up. You're no match for me.' It rasped as another punch came in contact with my stomach, knocking the wind out of me.  
  
For the next few moments, I contunued to get clobbered by my opponent as he threw me around as if I were a little puppet.  
  
'Crash!' The sound of breaking glass rang across my face as I plunged headfirst into a store's window. There I lay, face down in the pile of glass shards, my body heaving under the pain. Blood was dripping down to my mouth from my nose.  
  
'Must get up.' I told myself as I slowly tried to regain balance, the monster laughed evily as it saw me make my way towards it again.  
  
'You want to die? Very well.' It rasped, 'I'll end your life quickly.'  
  
Without warning, it launched a punch at my stomach, knocking the wind out of me as I doubled over, gasping for breath.  
  
In the daze of pain, sensei's words rushed back to me. 'All you need to do Derek is to believe in yourself. Remember what I taught you at the academy, inner strength is what makes a successful ninja.'  
  
'That's it!' I exclaimed as I rolled to my left, narrowly avoiding a deadly stomp. Flipping to a corner, I closed my eyes and concentrated.  
  
Bit by bit, I felt as if my strength was returning. Even with my eyes closed, a mental image of the charging monster floated into my head.  
  
'Now!' My instincts roared as I jumped upwards, avoiding another deadly attack.  
  
The now furious monster wasn't giving up this easily. 'Get back here and quit running so I can kill you!' it screamed in fury.  
  
'You got it!' I mocked. Suddenly, a familiar beeping filled my ears as I looked downwards. Sure enough, an edge of a card could be seen from my buckle.  
  
'Alright!' I silently cheered. 'Panther Booster!' I slid in the card without a moments hesitation as soon as the booster materialized.  
  
'Armor upgrade!' the voice said as the metal plates rushed over my entire body.  
  
With my armor on, it was finally payback time.  
  
The monster suffered attack after attack as I released my moves on it. 'Take that!' I yelled as a mid-kick sent it sprawling to the ground.  
  
'Time to finish you off, eh?' I said as I pulled out another new card. 'Panthero Attack!' Energy converged from my whole body as the armor started to glow.  
  
'Unleash!' I roared as the energy lashed out, forming a charging panther as it ran at top speed towards the monster.  
  
Just as I thought the hit would destroy it, something jumped onto the scene and blocked the attack, deflecting it to the ground.  
  
As the smoke cleared, I was able to make out who it was. My fists clenced in anger at what I saw, standing before me, was the spider monster I had encountered at the academy, the one who killed sensei and Jeff!  
  
'You!' I spat through gritted teeth as the monster grinned at me.  
  
The monster was easily as furious as I was. 'Arancha! What are you doing here? I could defeat him!'  
  
The spider still grinned. 'Lord Centaron is not happy with your progress, Metalar. However, as you are still a general, he sent me to bring you back.'  
  
Even a properly trained ninja couldn't have resisted the rage within. With a furious yell I charged at the two of them, sword raised high as I prepared to hack them to pieces.  
  
'Metalar, aim for that building.' Arancha ordered as it obeyed, then it turned to me. 'One shot, Hurricane Ranger, and those people in that building are dead!'  
  
Immediately, I skidded to a stop. 'This is between you and me. Leave the innocent out of this!' I yelled.  
  
The grin widened as it spoke. 'There is no such word as "innocence" in my head. One single move from you,' It warned, 'and you'll be killing many lives.'  
  
Even before I could think about what it said, all of its arms send an energy wave at me. 'Demon Delgalto!'  
  
Never, had I felt such pain as the energy coarsed through my entire body. Back, back , back I was thrown as I hit a wall, cracking an enormous hole in it.  
  
Slowly, my powers drained away as I dropped out of morph. The pile of rubble around started to swirl and turn as my vision dimmed, the world fell black as I lost conciousness.  
  
I didn't know how long I had fainted, but my body was still in great pain as I came back to my senses.  
  
'Ohh!' I moaned as I brush myself off. I ran back to where the monsters were, only to find that they were gone. Also, to my relief, the building they had threatened to destroy was still there, unharmed.  
  
I started to glance at my morpher to see where they were, when a nasty shot hit me, hard!  
  
'No.' I gasped as I tried to control myself from fainting again, this was impossible.  
  
The Hurricane Morpher was gone!  
  
Well, another chapter up. Where is Derek's morpher? You just gotta see the next chap to find out. Keep on watching everybody. Also, I'll be trying to make the coming chapters a little "unpredictable", because of a great comment from (Master of Perfect Chaos), so please don't flame me if something comes out unexpected. Keep watchin'. 


	12. The Startling Revealation

(karenashleysdreamlover) That's a great idea, but sorry. This is something I can't do, at least not for now. Hope you still find this interesting.  
  
(Doyles-always) Again thanks for the review, glad you like this. Kill Jacob? Well, you'll see. Haha! Also, thanks for the review on Power Rangers Solar, but that fic will be on hold until I finish this.  
  
(ShaneWestLover) Thanks for the review. What happened to the morpher? You just gotta take a look to find out. Pleasant surprises!  
  
My morpher was gone! Frantically, I searched everywhere for it, in the rubble, practically the whole area. But I found nothing; not even a trace of it could be seen.  
  
'I'm a goner.' I groaned as I dragged my exhausted body back home. Without the morpher, I was nothing but an ordinary human. True, there were still my ninja skills, but they will certainly not be enough to defeat the Insectrons any further. Without the ranger powers, Hong Kong was finished.  
  
Maybe even faster than I'll know if the morpher was stolen by Arancha and Metalar. With the powers, it'll be more than enough to destroy everything. I had failed everyone, sensei, Jeff, Kelly, Issac, everyone.  
  
Slowly, I continued to walk home, drowning inside my own thoughts. That night, I hardly slept. Everytime I closed my eyes, visions of the battle filled my brain, reminding me of my failure.  
  
'Derek, you ok?' My dad asked the next morning as I sat down for breakfast, looking as if I had aged several years.  
  
I nodded my head slowly. 'Um, yeah. Everything's fine. Just had a bad night.'  
  
It was weird. Losing the morpher made me lose interest in anything I did, nothing caught my attention. My senses were on full guard the whole time, as I feared the Insectrons would attack any minute.  
  
Even the sky seemed to be mocking me as it gave no warmth and grey clouds filled the air. It wasn't until I got back to my classroom that I began to relax.  
  
Issac was the first to come running over. 'Derek, I saw the news last night. Are you ok? That hit looked pretty painful.'  
  
At that, I almost broke down. Slowly, I pulled him over. 'My morpher is gone.'  
  
No word could describe the look on his face as he stared at me. A moment later, he started to ask me the questions I had asked myself earlier and I did nothing but nod.  
  
The hours dragged by as the classes passed one by one. I couldn't believe it, this was the first time I was called by almost all the teachers to pay attention.  
  
'Try to pay attention of you were me.' I thought bitterly.  
  
But time passed, and finally it was the end of school for today. Silently I packed my stuff and trudged towards the door. Where I would go was a mystery to me.  
  
Soon, an answer came to me as my phone receivied a message.  
  
"Derek, meet me at the old warehouse, I'll wait for you there. Kelly."  
  
I was puzzled. Why would Kelly want to meet me, especially if it was in that old warehouse? Knocking my thoughts away, I headed over there.  
  
The sky was almost pitch-black when I arrived. The warehouse gave off a gloomy shadow, creeping me out.  
  
'This had better be good.' I thought as I headed in.  
  
Everything inside was broken and battered, only a few dim lights lit up the long corridors. The place looked as if it was abandoned for a few years.  
  
As I continued, a brighter light could finally be seen out front. Thinking that's were Kelly was, I ran over.  
  
'What's up Kel?' I asked. Suddenly, my mouth dropped open as I saw my surroundings.  
  
It was Kelly alright, but she was tied to a chair, mouth gagged. It sent a cut at my heart as I saw her eyes filled with fear. She struggled as she tried to break free of her bounds.  
  
The area was like some kind of laboratory, with different kinds of equipment, some which I had never even seen before.  
  
Kelly started to struggle harder as I walked forward. Without warning, I felt a hit at my back as the bare concrete floors came rushing up to me.  
  
'Wakey, wakey.' A voice chorused as I slowly regained consiousness.  
  
'Jacob!' I yelled. 'What are you doing here?' Noticing I was bound to another chair, I added, 'What's the meaning of this?'  
  
He smiled at me. 'You really are slow aren't you?' He waved a hand at Kelly. 'This was all a trap. All I needed was to kidnap this little cutie and I knew you'd fall for it.'  
  
A wave of fury swept across my face. 'This has nothing to do with her. Let her go.' I spat. 'What do you want with me?'  
  
Another smile. 'I wanted you to join the ceremony, to see it in your own eyes.'  
  
'What ceremony?'  
  
His eyes slowly trailed to another corner of the room, my eyes followed.  
  
'The Hurricane Morpher!' I gasped. It was true, there my morpher was, held in some kind of plastic container, a number of wires were connected to it. 'What do you want with my morpher?'  
  
Jacob's smile didn't even lessen a bit. 'You're not worthy of the powers it contains.' Then his lips curled up into a sneer. 'Your emotions make you weak, like that battle you had yesterday. If you didn't care for those people, then the monsters wouldn't have had a chance against you. I grabbed the morpher as you lay unconscious.'  
  
I was shocked by his every word. 'The ranger powers are for protecting those who need help.'  
  
He slowly walked toward me and slapped me across the face. 'Don't you see? One could have all the riches and power he could ever want with this morpher.' He yelled. 'And you on the other hand, only care about helping weaklings? People who know the true use of the morpher should be its master.' Pausing for a moment, he added, 'Someone like me.'  
  
Then he turned around and headed to the morpher, near it was a small seat with a helmet on top, wires connected it with the morpher.  
  
Jacob stared at me with his cold eyes. 'Using my scientific knowledge, I'll be able to transfer the powers into myself. I shall let you know the meaning of true power. Behold!'  
  
With that. He switched a button nearby. The lights around started to dim as the morpher crackled with electricity. Waves of energy started to flow directly into the helmet as Jacob laughed in excitement.  
  
'Ahhhh!' With a tremendous explosion, the device exploded, englufing everywhere with smoke.  
  
Slowly, I made out a figure. It could only be Jacob as I saw what was beneath.  
  
It was almost exactly the same to my ranger suit, but gave off a completely different feeling. A deep wave of darkness and evil surrounded the area.  
  
Carefully looking at himself, Jacob started to laugh again. 'This is even better than I thought, the power, the energy, it's so amazing. See Derek? This is how a true ranger should be. Meet the Hellspawn Ranger.'  
  
I tried to stay as calm as I could. 'Jacob, you don't understand, you're making a terrible mistake.'  
  
He laughed harder. 'We'll see whose made a mistake. It'll be really fun killing you, but first, why not try out these wonderful powers first? Enjoy these few hours, it'll be your last.'  
  
With another evil cackle, he was gone in a blur. The instant he left, every single possible exit inside the entire warehouse closed by itself. We were really trapped!  
  
'Kelly, hang on. I'll get you out soon.' I called over as I tried to break through my bounds, the coarse rope cut my hands, shooting pain around me.  
  
No matter how hard I tried, the ropes were still tightly knotted.  
  
'Inner strength, inner strength.' I kept reminding myself, getting angry wasn't going to help. I had to keep as calm as I could, no matter what.  
  
Suddenly, an idea came into my head, a training I had done before at the academy. The bone shrink! Slowly, I focused my mind and allowed the body, mind and spirit to fuse into one.  
  
Sure enough, my body became smaller as my bones shrank. Bit by bit, I was able to slip through the ropes. In a few minutes time, I finally broke through my captivity.  
  
Immediately I ran over to Kelly and untied her. 'You alright?' I asked as I removed her gag.  
  
To my surprise, she flung her arms around me, sobbing. 'Derek, I was so scared. He came out of nowhere and the next thing I knew I was tied up.'  
  
I was shocked at how scared she was, at the same time a rage burned inside me. 'Shhh. It's alright, everything's fine now. I'll get you out of here.' I said as I gently patted her head.  
  
She let go of me and peered around. 'But there's no way out, everything's blocked.'  
  
I did the same, and really found no way out, not a single one. I went through my options one by one, slowly figuring out what to do. I had to be fast though, but the longer I took, the more damage Jacob would do to the city. There wasn't much time left!  
  
Yes, that was it! My eyes laid onto the morpher as I mentally knocked myself for not thinking about it earlier. There had to be some energy left inside it.  
  
'Kelly, I have a plan. The Hurricane Morpher should still have some power, I'll morph first and bust us out of here. Now listen, once we're out, I want you to head home straight away.' I raised a hand to shush her as she tried to argue. 'Jacob is out there, there's no way knowing how much damage he could do. It's gonna be dangerous outside, and god knows whether I'll be able to defeat him or not.'  
  
Knowing she'd have no way of making me change my mind, Kelly slowly nod. Immediately, I ran over to the device that held my morpher and reached out my hand.  
  
'Ahhhh!' I screamed as painful bolts of electricity ran up and down my body, flinging me back against the wall. With a loud 'thump' I landed onto the cold concrete floors.  
  
Kelly ran over, terrified. 'Derek, are you alright?' Slowly she helped me regain balance.  
  
I cursed silently under my breath. 'Why can't I reach the morpher?'  
  
Again and again I tried, but again and again I got flung back. No matter what I did, I couldn't reach the morpher, there must have been some sort of force field around it.  
  
'Derek, stop! Don't try again, you'll die if you continue.' Kelly said as I fell down to the ground once again. 'We'll find some other way out.'  
  
I shook my head, 'There IS no other way. I have to keep on going.'  
  
'But-'  
  
Kelly's words were cut off as a small screen flicked on from a nearby table. In a split second, the helmet of the Hellspawn Ranger appeared.  
  
'I see you've broken through the ropes. No matter, you'll never be able to get out. Give up!' he said with a hideous laugh. 'Don't bother trying to use your morpher. The energy field around it could not be broken by a pathetic human being like you. Anyway, how bout a little treat for you?'  
  
The helmet turned around, only to view a small part of town. It was total chaos! There were fires burning in the background, people running in terror, some were hurt and injured, others simply lay on the ground, motionless.  
  
'No!' I yelled as my eyes saw what Jacob had done, my fists trembled in anger.  
  
He laughed again. 'Pretty nice, huh? These powers are amazing, thanks Derek. Anyway, I'll say it again. Don't try getting the morpher, I want to kill you with my own hands. Hahaha!' With that, the screen went blank.  
  
Slowly, I slumped to my knees in dispair. Because of my foolishness, people, innocent people were hurt and dying. I didn't care what the price was anymore, I had to get out!  
  
Once again, I started towards the morpher, reaching towards it as I stretched my arm. Without warning, the same pain coarsed through my veins and body as I was knocked down again.  
  
Ignoring the stabbing pain, and the fogginess that started to form across my vision, I crawled over again.  
  
However, Kelly pulled me back. 'Derek, no!' I was startled to see that tears were falling down her face, she was crying! 'Don't try anymore. Really, you'll die. Jacob already said that the energy field could only be broken by someone with ranger powers. You're just an ordinary human being now, there's no way you'll be able to do it.'  
  
Suddenly, something flashed through me. My pain was gone in a mere second as I understood something. I turned my head towards Kelly, and gently wiped away her tears.  
  
'You're wrong Kelly.' I murmured. 'I may not have the morpher, but I'm still a Power Ranger. The Black Hurricane Ranger, the protecter of this place. From the moment I took the morpher and accepted this duty, I stopped being ordinary. The power of the hurricane still lies within my body, flows inside my veins, seeps into my soul.'  
  
With that, I looked at the morpher, and the invisible field which I could not see. I understood. I needed to have faith in myself, I'm a Power Ranger, I could do this!  
  
Once again, I stretched out my hand. The same pain hit me, but I focused hard onto my thoughts and reached further inside. Bit by bit, I got closer. The machine started to overload and burn.  
  
'Ahhhhhh!' I yelled as I thrusted forward, my fingers scratching the edge of my morpher. 'Keep on going!' A voice yelled into my head.  
  
With a huge explosion, the machine blew up as I was swept away by the impact.  
  
Continuing to ignore the stabbing pains, I looked at the wreckage. All was destroyed as piles of metal plates covered the area, a fog of smoke arose from the heap.  
  
In panic, I searched through the wreckage for the morpher. Finally, I found it, lying at the bottom, covered with dust- but un-damaged.  
  
Immediately I put it on. As soon as it came in contact with me, the same feeling when I first put on the morpher returned to me.  
  
'Tornado Storm, Ranger Form!'  
  
There I stood, fully morphed. Something ran up and down my veins, power, Power, POWER!  
  
Glancing down at my morpher, I discovered that Jacob was wrecking havoc near the western district. Not much left!  
  
'Panther Bazooka!' I yelled as my trusty weapon materialized into my hands. With a small blast, a huge hole appeared onto the wall of the warehouse.  
  
I turned to Kelly, 'C'mon, let's get outta here.'  
  
'Tsunami Cycle!'  
  
'Kelly, there's not much time left for me. Here's what we'll do: I'll take you with me to the west side, but once we get there, I want you to find a safe place to hide. Don't come out no matter what happens. Am I understood?' I asked softly.  
  
She looked at me, those beautiful eyes haunting my soul. Slowly, she nodded in agreement.  
  
With that, we sped off towards our destination.  
  
What we saw was awful. Almost every single building there was destroyed, injured people littered the streets. Blood smeared around the pavement.  
  
I stopped the cycle immediately. 'Kelly, now! Remember what I said, ok?'  
  
She got off quickly. 'Derek, please be careful.'  
  
I nodded, 'I will.'  
  
I continued my ride through the area, searching for Jacob. In no time at all, I located him. Laughing like crazy, attacking everything and everyone in sight.  
  
With a swift jump, I leapt off my cycle. Landing onto the ground, I ran towards my opponent.  
  
'Hellspawn Ranger, hold it right there!'  
  
Wow! Another chapter finished. What do you guys think? Sorry if there's not enough morphing action here. The coming chap may take a little longer than usual cause it's gonna be a big fight. Keep on watching guys! Also, please tell me if there is any way to make this fic more interesting. Thanks! 


	13. Hurricane VS Hellspawn

(ShaneWestLover) Thanks for the review. Yeah, this is one part of the climax of the story. But there are still a few more surprises coming up!  
  
(Doyles-always) Well, is Jacob gonna die? Scroll down and enjoy! Also, thanks for the other reviews on Power Rangers Solar.  
  
'Hellspawn Ranger, hold it right there!'  
  
Jacob turned at me in surprise as I leapt in front of him.  
  
'You!' He snarled in disgust. 'How on earth did you escape?'  
  
I looked at him and shook my head. 'Don't you forget. I'm a Power Ranger. Nothing and no one can stop a Power Ranger, especially some bastard like you.'  
  
The tension between us was at its tip as Jacob without warning lashed out a fist at my helmet. All my experience against the Insectrons weren't for nothing as I blocked the attack and grabbed his hand.  
  
'Agh!' yelled the Hellspawn Ranger as I twisted his arm and kicked him hard, in the stomach as he doubled over.  
  
I lifted him above the ground, and growled through gritted teeth, 'How could you Jacob? Those were innocent people.'  
  
The helmet wheezed as he struggled out of my grip. 'They are weak, they do not deserve to live in this world. I am more powerful than anyone else, the ruler of the universe should be me!'  
  
My anger knew no bounds as I stuck my face close to his. 'You? Powerful? Think again!' With that I flung him back onto the ground with all my strength, cracking a hole into the ground.  
  
Giving him no time to recover, I immediately dove at him, the two of us wrestling on the ground.  
  
Thunder roared and lighting shook the sky, rain continued to pour down non- stop.  
  
My body started to give as the struggling continued, I knew that if this continued, there was a big chance that I'd lose. The Hellspawn Ranger knew this as well, in a flash he sent a kick at my stomach.  
  
Pain engulfed me as the wind inside got knocked out as I rolled around in pain, desperately gasping for breath.  
  
Wasting no time, he dispatched his sword and aimed it at me. 'Goodbye, weakling.' He murmured softly.  
  
The anger inside me continued to rise as I looked around me. 'No!' I replied firmly as I caught the swinging blade with my hands. 'You're the one who's going down.' With that I flung back the blade with all my strength, causing Jacob to fall over.  
  
As soon as I got back onto my feet, I took out my own sword and prepared to fight, traditional ninja style. We walked slowly around in circles, none of us wanting to look away, eyes locked into each other.  
  
'Derek,' Jacob started, 'You do realized that you're tired and battered, right? You can't handle the battle anymore. If you give up now-'  
  
'Then you'll let me live?' I half-laughed.  
  
Another hideous laugh floated from the helmet. 'Wrong. If you give up now, I'll make your death a peaceful and painless one.'  
  
Once again, the familiar anger coarsed through my soul as my fists tightened. 'No matter how tired I feel right now, I can still defeat you. Why? Because you've made the terrible mistake of angering me. Now there's no way back for you. I'm gonna destroy you once and for all!'  
  
'We'll see about that!' Jacob roared as he charged at me, sword held high above his head.  
  
Sparks danced around as the two of our blades came in contact with each other. Both of us swiped our blades at each other, each attack meant to kill, none of us wanted to stop until the opponent was dead.  
  
I aimed every attack carefully, and focused hard to find a way to defeat the Hellspawn Ranger when his defenses were low. I don't know how he was capable of doing it, but he seemed to be trained expertly in martial arts.  
  
I made a mistake by chopping at Jacob's shoulder as he dodged and used the chance to kick me down, then took a slice at my chest as sparks flew in every direction.  
  
'See what I mean? You're exhausted.' He taunted as I regained balance.  
  
Ignoring his words, I ran forward again. I couldn't lose this fight, there were already too many people hurt because of me, I couldn't let Jacob win this one.  
  
'Panther Booster!' Without further hesitation, I snatched a card and slid it inside.  
  
'Speed Boost, activated!' The robotic voice announced as my reflexes were pushed to a maximum.  
  
The Hellspawn Ranger looked in surprise at me. 'What the hell? How could you do that?' He gasped in shock.  
  
I rushed up to him and delivered a punch at his jaw while avoiding an uppercut. 'There are somethings you just can't do better than me.' I mocked.  
  
Jacob flipped back up and brushed himself off. 'I refuse to agree with you.' With that he ran forward at me once again and started attacking.  
  
However, I was able to either block or duck with the help of the booster now, as Jacob started to lose his patience.  
  
'Arrrrrr!' He yelled in fury as swirls of energy erupted around him, another great surge of evil filled the area instantly. Suddenly, a weapon appeared out of thin air and into his hands.  
  
I squinted hard between the rain to see what it was. 'Oh my god!' I gasped. It was a sickle, the weapon of death!  
  
The next thing I knew, a scorching pain hit me as I doubled over, Jacob had attacked me fast, when I was making out the sickle.  
  
A quick roll to the right saved me from getting my head chopped off as Jacob plunged the weapon of death again and again at me.  
  
'See Hurricane Ranger?' Laughed Jacob, 'Even hell is on my side, sending me this beautiful weapon, nothing can stop me from killing you now!'  
  
The next few minutes were living hell for me as the Hellspawn Ranger continued to attack, each slice weakening my powers, even the speed enhancment wasn't enough to avoid the deadly sickle.  
  
'Die!'  
  
A sharp pain pierced my shoulder as the sickle sliced a hole through my suit. Through blurry vision, I saw blood trickle down the wound as I fought to prevent myself from being hacked.  
  
The anger inside me was continuing to grow, the determination to win and destory Jacob was at its tip. Slowly, I felt myself concentrating hard, focusing on every single move he made. Like a miracle, Jacob's moves seemed to slow down, I could even make out every next move he made!  
  
At the same time, six beeps rang out from my Panther Booster. I looked down, only to see another card at the tip. However, this one was different from the others. Unlike the usual with the large H symbol, this one was marked with a huge T. Not sure what it was, I slid it in.  
  
'Hurricane Ranger evolution engage!' the voice said.  
  
Immediately, I felt changes inside my body. The tiredness from before was swept away at once, only to be replaced by great power! A bright light enveloped my body as I yelled in surprise.  
  
Slowly, the light faded away as I was able to look at myself. New armor replaced my original ones, there were also knee and arm armor with razors as well. I looked at a nearby mirror, my helmet had a panther decorating it, another symbol shone from my chest. Immediately, I understood.  
  
'Hurricane Ranger, evolution!' I yelled as I took a fighting stance, 'Tornado Ranger!'  
  
Jacob took a step back in surprise. 'Blazes!'  
  
I pointed straight at him. 'The time has come, Hellspawn Ranger. It's time you went down!' As I rushed over. 'Thrusters double output!' I yelled as I gained a new burst of speed.  
  
The Hellspawn Ranger didn't even had the time to respond as I rocketed at him, delivering a heavy triple-kick-punch combo at his body, sending him hurling backwards.  
  
'This power, it's amazing!' I thought as I marvelled at my own strength.  
  
Jacob was clearly losing as he lost all defense and kept stumbling onto the ground as I continued my attack. Sweat was pouring down my face as the battle continued. My determination however, kept washing away the exhaustion, urging me to go on.  
  
With a loud curse, Jacob threw his sickle at me full speed. I practically saw my life slow down as the deadly weaopn hurled at my face, if it hit me, then it'll be "bye bye Derek".  
  
Wind flopped around as the storm grew, lightning still crackled up above, each strike casting a series of eerie shadows everywhere. My mind raced around as my eyes locked onto the instrument of death. 'This will be my only chance.' I told myself as I waited for the right chance.  
  
Suddenly, my instincts struck as I raised both of my hands in a single fluid motion. With a sickening crunch I caught the tip of the sickle as I fell backwards. With every ounce of courage inside me, I opened my eyes as I let out a big breath of air. The sickle was just a bare few inches from my helmet!  
  
Slowly, I got up and with a tremendous burst of energy, broke the sickle in two as the pieces fell down onto the ground with a 'clash'.  
  
'Your tricks are all used up.' I mocked as I glared directly at the surprised Hellspawn Ranger. 'Anything more you'd like to pull?'  
  
Jacob staggered back, in horror or anger I had no idea. However, with another roar of fury, he once more ran towards me, hands raised and ready to attack.  
  
I closed my eyes and felt my surroundings, the Hellspawn powers were already weakened to a dangerous level. I had second thoughts on how to deal with him, but with a thought on how many INNOCENT people were killed by him, I made a final conclusion.  
  
My arms made out the symbol of the panther as energy started to converge around my body.  
  
'Goodbye, Jacob.' I whispered as the power around me raised to its maximum capacity. 'Panther Tornado Fury, Rage On!'  
  
In an instant, a swirl of tornados combined with the form of a panther and rushed at the Hellspawn Ranger at an utterly incredible speed.  
  
A huge explosion occurred as the attack came in contact with its target, I shielded my eyes as the bright light simply blinded my vision.  
  
As the fumes started to clear off, I saw Jacob. He was trying his best to stand up, most of his armor had been blown off.  
  
'Darn it!' he yelled in fury. 'How could I be defeated like this? It's impossible.'  
  
Out of nowhere, Arancha appeared on a ledge near him, a smirk was plastered onto its grosteque features.  
  
'Drink this.' It said as one of its hairy arms gave Jacob a small vial. 'With this, you'll be able to finish off the Hurricane Ranger you hate so much.'  
  
'Who are you to help me?' Panted Jacob as he looked at Arancha.  
  
The smirk widened on its face. 'Someone with the same goal as you, to destroy the Hurricane Ranger.'  
  
'Jacob, no!' I yelled as I tried to stop him, but it was too late. With a gulp he had whatever was inside that vial down his throat. Immediately, I knew what it was as Jacob yelped in pain and his size continued to grow. That was the growth potion!  
  
'Hahaha!' He laughed as he reached giant size, 'I feel powerful again. Derek, it's time I really destroyed you!' With that he lowered his foot in an attempt to crush me.  
  
Rolling away, I raised the morpher to my mouth. 'Panther, a little help here!' I yelled.  
  
The ground around me shook and rumbled as my zord ran over to my aid from the forest. Sparks showered around as it knocked Jacob backwards, allowing me to jump into the cockpit.  
  
'Nice save, buddy. Let's do it!' I yelled as the Panther Zord got ready for battle.  
  
Jacob brushed himself off from the hit and stood up. 'No way a little kitten will be able to destroy me Derek.'  
  
'Kitten? I'll show him kitten!' growled the panther in anger. 'Derek, shall we?'  
  
I snapped my fingers. 'Intiating megazord sequence, Tornado Megazord!'  
  
We were halfway through the morph as the Hellspawn Ranger wasted no time and ran forward, taking a big punch at us.  
  
I screamed in surprise as the zord was knocked down and sparks fired everywhere. 'Better finish this quickly. Power Disc, locked and dropped. Tiger Fang!'  
  
Gripping the weapon tightly, I reered close to my opponent and attacked. However, the attacks were rendered useless as Jacob just stood there.  
  
'Now it's my turn!' he yelled as he thrusted forward. For the next few moments, the zord was treated like a feather pillow as Jacob continued to throw us around.  
  
'Agh!' I panted as we hit a building.  
  
'Power level down by 93%. Power shock.' The computer beeped. I tried to regain control of the megazord as Jacob closed in, but everything was failing. We were unable to move!  
  
We suffered another hit as Jacob punched the head of the zord, directly at me! 'Say goodbye, this is where I destory you and your toy.' He laughed.  
  
Suddenly, something snapped inside me. In a flash I swiped the Tornado Card out of my booster and inserted it onto the main console. If this gave me powers, then it should do the same to the zord, right? I closed my eyes and prayed as I prepared to meet my death.  
  
'Charging up.' The same voice suddenly said as the lights around the cockpit relit once again. A humming noise arose as the power levels of the megazord reached an almost-impossible height. 'Torricane Megazord complete. Ready for battle.'  
  
And there it stood, the megazord with the combined powers of hurricane and tornado, prepared to attack.  
  
'You ready for round 2, Jacob?' I asked as the zord took a step forward.  
  
He jeered at me. 'As I'll ever be. Die!' Hot streams of beams fired from his fingers and shot directly at me.  
  
I tilted my head and gave a small laugh. 'You might want to do better than that. Tornado shield, activate!'  
  
The hand of the megazord started to retract as a huge shield started to form, completely blocking the beams and sending them directly back at Jacob.  
  
Again and again, Jacob tried his best to knock me down, but the shield was able to block every single attack. Because of all this, I knew it was time to fight back, once and for all.  
  
'Hurricane rage!' I announced as the zord took a gigantic sweep at the Hellspawn Ranger. He tried to block, of course, but was too slow as it hit directly at him.  
  
Deep inside me, my thoughts were telling that this was my chance to kill Jacob. However, a small part knew that Jaocb was just a human, not an Insectron. It wasn't right to just kill him. Even my head start to hurt as I thought of this. Suddenly, visions appeared across my head. People in pain, suffering, crying for help! Jacob slaughtering them, laughing like a maniac!  
  
'Jacob,' I said to him as the megazord stepped back. 'I really don't want to kill you, although you have killed all these people, you are still human, not a monster. If you'd just give yourself up, then we'll leave this to the police to deal with.'  
  
He stared back at me, his eyes containing nothing but pure rage and hatred. 'Bah!' He spat. 'I don't need your pity, worm! I shall conquer this world with my own hands. When that time comes, you shall be begging me for mercy!'  
  
I shut my eyes in disappointment. 'Then,' I swallowed, 'You leave me no choice. Double fusion tornado, charge.'  
  
With the push of a button, the whole lot of energy inside the megazord started to converge into one single point as it glowed with light.  
  
'Complete. Ready for launch.' The computer reminded.  
  
I stared at the figure in front of me, the twisted human that was once someone I knew, someone I'd be killing with my own hands. 'Goodbye Jacob, rest in peace. Ready, Fire!'  
  
A stunning amount of deadly lazers combined with tornadoes launched from the megazord's chest, firing directly at Jacob.  
  
'Argh!' He screamed in pain as the blast covered his entire body. Slowly, it started to burn and shake. In less than a single second, an explosion took place.  
  
As the smoke and fumes started to clear, I peered down at the burning ground. Jacob was destroyed, his body was already burnt to smithereens.  
  
The furious rain storm had already come to an end as I jumped back down onto the ground from the megazord.  
  
It was truly a hard battle, but at least now it was over. Finally.  
  
I nodded my head upwards. A small glint of sunlight was shining from the skies, I smiled. With one last look at where Jacob had been blown up, I turned away and demorphed back to civilian form.  
  
And standing there, waiting for me, was someone very special. Someone who held a big place inside my heart, who gave me the power to continue fighting.  
  
Kelly.  
  
Guys, I'm very very sorry for taking so long. One single update after a whole month? I know I should've done more but all the homework around here is killing me. Sorry. Well, there it is. Jacob dead and the evolution of Derek, what do you think? The next chapter will be a short one, with no morphig action at all. Just plain Derek and Kelly. Stay tuned~!!! 


	14. Certain Sacrifices

There stood Kelly, a big smile plastered onto her face.  
  
'Hey Kel!' I shouted as I ran over to her. 'Are you alright?'  
  
'Yeah, perfectly fine. Anyway, well done. You finally defeated that psycho, that power up sure was awesome. It was so cool!' She grinned.  
  
I couldn't help but grin when I heard these words. 'Yeah, if it wasn't for the evolution, I might never had the chance to destroy Jacob.' I started down at my watch to stop myself from blushing. 'C'mon, let's get you home, don't want to worry your parents do you?'  
  
'Can we take that motor bike of yours again?' Kelly asked in excitement, 'The rider here was so fun!'  
  
I arched my eyebrows and gave a small grin. 'Excuse me, but you might want to note that I'm a 17 year old and don't have a licsence for motor biking around the city. And there's no way I'm going take you home morphed. We're taking the bus!'  
  
'Aw come on!' She pouted and gave me a slight push.  
  
During the bus ride, I wanted to ask her the same question that was boggling inside my mind for all this time, but just couldn't work up the nerve. I gave myself a big kick as Kelly got off, scoulding myself for being such a coward.  
  
'You just defeated a crazy psycho who wanted to kill you, and now you're freaking over a girl?' I yelled at myself.  
  
2 weeks had passed since I defeated Jacob, the Hellspawn Ranger in combat. Kelly was leaving for the US tomorrow, and we were having a big farewell party in the evening. This, was going to be my last chance.  
  
'Thanks a lot!' I snapped at the smoking black fumes of the Insectron I just destroyed. 'I'm going to be late. Why do you guys always have such bad timing?' Heading off to a dark corner, I demorphed and ran over to downtown.  
  
Everyone was there by the time I arrived. Issac and the others knew about the Insectron attack but I forbid them to talk about it during the party, it was just too risky. I didn't want another 'Hellspawn Attack' for the rest of my life.  
  
Time passed quickly as we all fooled around, having fun and everything. Before I knew it, it was already late into the night, and people were slowly leaving.  
  
'Derek!' Issac yelled over as he walked up to me.  
  
'What?' I asked in confusion.  
  
He slapped me on the back and said in a mere whisper, 'So, are you gonna do it tonight? It'll be your last chance!'  
  
I looked at my best friend, he always knew me too well. Slowly, I nodded.  
  
'Go! Take her home and then tell her while you're on your way there. Don't worry about anything, place every second thoughts back, they'll only get in the way. Got it?'  
  
Again, I did nothing but nod. My head was starting to spin again. I rushed over to the bathroom and started drowning my face with ice cold water. I started at the mirror, at my own relfection. 'I'm doing this!' I told myself firmly.  
  
When I got out, everyone had already left, even Issac. There in the whole place, were only Kelly and I.  
  
'Hey Derek, I thought you left!' Kelly suddenly said.  
  
'Oh, yeah.' I blurted, 'Just thought probably you'd like a walk home? It's already late and it could be dangerous for a girl like you walking on the streets alone.'  
  
Kelly narrowed her eyes at me, causing my hands to tremble as cold sweat poured down my face.  
  
'Or,' I said quickly before something went wrong, 'Maybe you'd fancy a ride on the Tsunami Cycle?'  
  
Instantly, her eyes glittered as a huge smile appeared. 'You got it!' She yelled in excitement.  
  
'Phew!' I mentally said, wiping off the sweat from my forehead. 'Close one.'  
  
And there we took off on the cycle, speeding towards her home. We talked about everything I could think off, the new band, that disgusting Insectron I fought.  
  
The talking ceased when the cycle reered down the pavement of her house. Slowly I got off , my mind was racing so quickly that I thought I was going to faint any second. I was about to open my mouth when suddenly!  
  
'Uh, Derek?' Kelly asked.  
  
I looked over at her, her angelic features sending another wave up my numb body. 'Yeah?'  
  
'You remember that time when you walked me home after we fell down that hole underground?'  
  
I tried my best to make a joke. 'How could I forget? I knocked you to the ground!' But quickly changed my tone as I saw her stare. 'I mean, yeah. I do.'  
  
'Well, there was something I wanted to tell you right? And I told you that the time wasn't right. Remember?' She asked, I could hear by her voice that she was nervous.  
  
'Uh huh.'  
  
'I think maybe now's the right time to tell you.'  
  
All of a sudden, I felt as if I was shot up into the sky. 'Could it be? Could it be?' My mind raced.  
  
'I like you.' She said simply.  
  
Ok, my whole body was on fire while my brain was frozen in shock.  
  
'But not that kind of like in love, it's the kind between brother and sister.' She added.  
  
Now I felt as if I had no brain or body or even soul at all, still I nodded.  
  
'Love wouldn't last forever, but friendship can. I didn't tell you at first because I thought it'd break you down. I don't want to lose you, ever. It'd kill me if you left me in the end or I left you. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?' She explained.  
  
I snapped, completely. 'Why the hell did she have to say it like that at first?' I thought angrily, 'It's not fair!' But then, visions appeared across my head. Kelly held captive by Elesect, threatening to kill her. Kelly tied and bounded by Jacob, to lure me into a trap! The fear in her eyes!  
  
If it wasn't for me, Kelly would never have had to go through all this. It was me who did all this to her. Slowly, I understood. I walked over at put a hand on her shoulder.  
  
'Of course I understand.' I said softly. 'Even if you accepted me, I would say no now,' I shook my head as she tried to speak. 'Listen to me first. It's just not safe, at least for now for you to be with me. You know what happened when Jacob captured you. I could never see you hurt, especially if I had done it. With my own hands.'  
  
'It's not your fault Derek, don't blame yourself.' Kelly comforted.  
  
'Anyway, it's for the best.' I said, looking at her eyes. 'Perhaps, maybe when my war is over, things would be different. If the war ever ends. But until that time, you take care of yourself.'  
  
Kelly looked at me, tears were glimmering from her eyes. 'Oh Derek, thank you.' She said as she wrapped her arms around me, giving me a small peck on the cheek.  
  
'It's getting late. You should probably get inside. I have something to do tomorrow, so I can't go to the airport. Be careful when you're over there, ok? Remember, whenever things go wrong, always know that there'll be someone to back you up. Someone who loves you.' I said. For the first time in a long time, I felt myself slowly relaxing.  
  
We embraced one last time as she walked back into her house. Numbly, I got back onto the Tsunami Cycle and sped off to the same mountain I always went to. And I lay down at the same spot I laid when Kelly first rejected me.  
  
What I did was right, I told myself. You are a warrior, that was a necessary sacrifice. I was brave, I was strong. I did what I had to.  
  
'Kelly, I love you.' I murmured to the stars above. Slowly, I drifted off to sleep.  
  
As I lay asleep, the spirit of sensei hovered around me.  
  
'Derek,' He said, 'Well done. You have made me and the academy proud.'  
  
Well, another chappie up! Yeah, I know I suck at writing romantic scenes, sorry bout that. This is actually my first offical attempt to do so, please don't flame me. I'd love it if you guys could give me some suggestions to write them better. The next chapter is gonna be some sort of a surprise. Stay tuned. 


	15. Fall of the Hurricane

It was already dawn when I awoke from my deep sleep. Slowly, I got up and trudged my way home. The holidays were beginning, but now I had nothing to do. It was going to be a long day. True, I could've gone to the airport to meet Kelly, but I already lied that I'd be busy.  
  
Walking as slowly as I could, it took me one full hour to get back to my apartment. I dunno where all this came from, but a great wave of tiredness continued to sweep over me. Perhaps it was all the stress I was going through all added up. After a slightly refreshing shower, I flicked on the TV screen.  
  
'Authorities are still left clueless on why a monster would attack the airport.'  
  
My ears pricked up as I heard the first sentence the reporter said. I spun around so fast the glass of juice I held fell to the ground and shattered to pieces.  
  
'Many police officers and citizens have already been injured. The monster however, seems to be heading towards a specific group of people. Also, the Hurricane Power Ranger is nowhere to be seen. Authorities are requesting his help as soon as possible.'  
  
A specific group of people? My eyes searched frantically over the screen, there she was! Kelly and her family was backing away from a monster. It took me no longer than a second to recognize the attacker. Arancha! My fists rolled into tight balls as I slammed them onto the table.  
  
Arancha must knew that there was something between me and Kelly, and used this chance to strike. I held my face in my hands in defeat, it was me again. I caused all this again.  
  
There's no time to lose I thought to myself as I stood up. 'Arancha, you're going to pay for what you did. I'll make sure of that.' Making sure that my parents were both out, I thrusted out my morpher.  
  
'Tornado Storm, Ranger Form!'  
  
The morph wasn't even fully complete when I ran towards the roof. The Tsunami Cycle was already waiting for me. But suddenly, I stopped. The cycle wouldn't be fast enough. Even with it, it'll take at least half an hour to get to the airport. By that time, who knows what would happen.  
  
As I panicked on what to do, the cycle started changing as if reading my mind. Slowly, it turned into some sort of surf board like vehicle.  
  
Ignoring what the heck it was, I jumped on. Immediately, it started to take off. WHOOSH! The whole cycle rammed forward at an incredible speed, the wind around me flapping around.  
  
'Alright!' I cheered as I reered it into the direction of the aiport. 'Tsunami Cycle Surf Mode, full power!'  
  
In less than 3 minutes, I was already hovering above the airport terminal. Outside was already swarmed with police officers and reporters. It'd take a lot of time to get through all of them, I'd have to jump down. But where was Kelly?  
  
Soon, I found her family and herself near the departure gate, Arancha was closing in on them bit by bit. Ignoring whether the jump would get me injured or not, I jumped down.  
  
'Crash!' The glass celing broke as I leapt down between Kelly and Arancha, doing a mid-air kneel as I touched cool solid ground uninjured.  
  
'What the!' Roared Arancha in surprise as shards of glass continued to shower down.  
  
Kelly also looked at me in surprise and relief. 'D-' She started to call out my name.  
  
I couldn't let her parents know that she knew me as I cut her off completely. 'Get out of here now, the police outside will be able to protect you.'  
  
'I'm afraid I can't let you do that.' Smiled Arancha as it snapped its claw. Immediately, a number of Insectoids emerged from the ground, surrounding them!  
  
Glaring at him from my helmet, I dispatched my sword. 'I'll deal with you later.' I snapped, pointing the sharp blade at his face. Then in a cartwheel turn I ran towards the Insectoids that were starting to close in.  
  
'Don't worry, I'll take care of them!' I yelled as an Insectoid got sliced in half by my sword. Yet, other Insectoids immediately took its place as they ran forward one by one. Trying my best to fend them off and at the same time, keep them away from Kelly, I bursted into a sword-wielding frenzy. The blade moved so fast it was nothing but a blur of silver light. Soon, limb-missing Insectoids littered the ground in a deadly heap.  
  
I turned towards Kelly and her parents. 'Is anyone hurt?'  
  
Kelly's father, a big burly man answered. 'No, we're fine.' Then suddenly, he pointed at my back, 'Look out!'  
  
The next thing I knew, a stinging pain ripped through my body as I was flung to the ground. 'Ahhhh!' I sceamed in pain as Arancha lowered its foot at my body, every single slight jab squeezing the life out of me.  
  
Slowly, he made another attempt to walk towards Kelly as her father ran in front of her. 'You leave my family alone.' He demanded in fury.  
  
Without warning, one of its pincers lashed out and seized him by the throat, raising him above the ground.  
  
'Dad!' Screamed Kelly in terror.  
  
I had to do something! Standing up again, I wisked out the Panther Booster and slid in two cards.  
  
'Speed Boost Activated. Armor Upgrade Activated.' Reported the voice as I wasted no time and rushed forward. At the speed of light I whirled around Arancha and using the armor jabbed him backwards as I rushed over to catch Kelly's dad.  
  
Arancha brushed himself off with one of its front pincers. 'Hurricane Ranger, you are soooo going to pay for that.' Suddenly, all his pincers retracted inside his body. A second later, they all re-emerged, each carrying a deadly weapon. The form he used to kill sensei and Jeff!  
  
Scenes of Jeff's death and the academy ruined flashed across my head. This was it! The chance for me to avenge their deaths.  
  
Full of hatred and excitement, I charged towards Arancha.  
  
'You shall pay for all the pain and dispair you've caused me!' I yelled at the top of my lungs as I sent down my sword with all the strength I had inside. 'Die!'  
  
However, Arancha dissolved into smoke as the blade came crashing down. I had missed! 'Damn! Where is he?' I thought.  
  
'Looking for something?' A voice purred as I whirled around and got hit in the face. The impact was so hard I flew backwards and crashed directly into a pair of glass doors.  
  
Arancha glared down at me with his eight eyes. 'You are weak, human.'  
  
Hearing these words, I immediately flipped back up. 'Never, ever underestimate me.' Picking up my sword, I continued to charge at him once again.  
  
Again and again, I tried with all my might to injure Arancha. Despite all my effort to try, he was able to block and dodge every single attack of mine, and at the same time attack me in return.  
  
'Crash!' A whole counter burst apart as I plunged head first into it. 'I can't give up.' I reminded myself as I tried my best to stand up once again. 'This is where your victory ends, Arancha!' I yelled as I slid the Tornado Card into the Booster.  
  
'Hurricane Ranger evolution, engage!' The same robotic voice said as I slowly changed form.  
  
'Ha! Tornado Ranger, ready for battle!' I exclaimed as I took my fighting stance.  
  
However, Arancha's smile didn't even lessen one bit. 'Oh dear.' He rasped, 'I'm so frightened.' Slowly, one of its pincers brought out a small bottle out of its ninja robes. Before I could even make out what it was, Arancha threw the whole thing inside his mouth.  
  
Suddenly, bright blood red light streamed from him as I closed my eyes.  
  
I cursed softly under my helmet as I saw what stood in Arancha's place.  
  
It's eight legs were multplied to 16, two extra menacing heads were mounted on the shoulders.  
  
'Meet my own evolution, ranger!' Arancha bellowed. 'This is Arantula, and will be the form I shall kill you in!'  
  
Kelly let out a cry of shere terror as she saw it with her own eyes.  
  
This was impossible! How could Arancha have an evolution of its own? No way!  
  
As I drowned inside my own thoughts, Arancha (or should I say Arantula) came in for the kill.  
  
His speed and power was simply amazing as I was nothing but a feather pillow in his pincers.  
  
Ignoring the stabbing pains running up and down inside, I started to converge whatever energy left I had inside. 'Panther Tornado Fury, Rage On!'  
  
The attack converged and rushed towards Arantula at an incredible speed. 'Please let this work!' I prayed silently as the attack came in contact with its target.  
  
However to my surprise and horror, Arantula simply raised its pincer and deflected the whole blast directly at me.  
  
'Boom!' The whole world around me came crashing down as the blast slammed into my body, it felt as if my whole life was ripped apart.  
  
I didn't even have the energy to pull myself up as Arantula approached me. It's multiple pincers raised high as energy ran through them.  
  
'This is where I bring you away from this world.' Arantula laughed as it lowered its pincers at me. 'Double Demon Delgalto.'  
  
'Ahhhhhhhhhh!' The pain I suffered from was simply indescribable as I was pushed back, back, back.  
  
'Power overload, mode retrace.' The same voice said as I was reverted back to the hurricane suit.  
  
Fresh blood poured down from my head as some more ran from my mouth. I couldn't fight anymore, I was just too tired to do so.  
  
Through dimmed vision, I saw Arantula walking towards me again. With one swift sweep, it clenched my neck with one of its pincers and lifted me off the ground as I moaned in pain.  
  
'You are pathetic.' He said simply. 'I thought you'd be enough of a worthy adversary, but you proved yourself to be nothing but worthless. Even your dead friends put up a better fight than you did.'  
  
I was so flushed with anger that I tried to struggle, only resulting in Arantula tightening his grip.  
  
'You have failed, Power Ranger! I once heard that you rangers were strong and powerful warriors, but I suppose you are an exception. You can't even protect the girl you love!' Arantula taunted. 'You are a disgrace to your academy, everything that is related to you should be ashamed!' With that, he threw me to the ground and stalked back towards Kelly and her family.  
  
In the process it turned one if its heads at me. 'You just lay here and watch how I deal with the girl.'  
  
Tears poured from my eyes as I saw what was happening, the whole truth was starting to sink in. I was a failure, a disgrace. I had runied everything, with my own bare hands. From a distant, I heard screams of help. 'Kelly!' I gasped.  
  
'What have we done to deserve all this?' Kelly's mom screamed as Arantula continued to walk forward.  
  
'Hurricane Ranger, please save us!' Kelly's dad yelled desperately as he stood in front of his family, shielding them from danger.  
  
Visions continued to flash across my mind while I saw all this happening. Jeff, sensei, Shane, Tori, Dustin, Hunter, Cam, Blake, Issac, Tina, Magli, mom, dad, KELLY! The anger inside me was starting to erupt like a volcano silent too long. I could feel the blood pounding in my ears, all emotions were gone! Nothing was left inside me except for hatred and rage. RAGE!!!  
  
'Argggghhhhhh!' I screamed at the top of my lungs. Once again, energy poured around me as I stood back up once again and howled an animal roar of fury.  
  
'Oh my god!' gasped Kelly as Arantula grabbed her by the collar.  
  
Arantula looked at me as well, and his eyes were suddenly filled with surprise and terror.  
  
I glanced at a nearby mirror and nearly fainted. Claws sprouted from my once human hands, jagged points filled my suit as my helmet glowed a sinister red. For once, the helmet was possibly identicle to that of the Hellspawn Ranger's.  
  
However, the pure rage inside ordered me to ignore these thoughts as I charged at Arantula.  
  
The foul monster didn't even have the time to blink an eye as I landed a powerful punch at his face, slamming him down with force.  
  
Before he could even get up, I seized him up and while holding him still, kept pounding him again and again as it yelled in pain.  
  
'Die, die, DIE!' I laughed in sick pleasure as blood flowed away from my opponent. To finish, I reared back my massive clawed fist and together with a powerful kick, sent him plouging away.  
  
As I continued to walk forward for the kill, Arantula suddenly noticed the huge crowds outside and sent another bolt of energy at them, but fainted after the effort.  
  
I knew I had to deflect that hit to save the people, but all I could think of at that time was simply revenge. I was actually starting to ignore the safety of others.  
  
'They'll die. Nothing is more important than killing Arantula with my own hands, tearing him limb after limb until he begs for mercy!' A thought inside my head said.  
  
What was wrong with me? I was actually starting to think like Jacob!  
  
'Please, save them!' I heard Kelly's mom yell as she saw me ignoring the crowds.  
  
I glared at her. 'You dare to order me?' I growled in fury, 'Then I'll kill you first!' With a roar I charged at her as she looked back at me with total terror.  
  
Suddenly, two streaks of light shot down onto the scene, one in front of me and the other in front of the crowds.  
  
The Navy Thunder Ranger emerged from the far light and sent the blast meant for the crowds upwards with his Navy Antlers as the celing above smashed.  
  
Next thing I knew, Shane was pushing me backwards, stopping me from getting any closer to Kelly's mom.  
  
'Hurricane Ranger, snap out of it!' He yelled desperately.  
  
I stuggled against him as hard as I could. 'Let me go you idiot!' I bellowed, 'Or I'll kill you as well!'  
  
The anger inside me continued to increase as I grabbed Shane by the body and heaved him into a nearby store, then I continued forward.  
  
'De-, Hurricane Ranger, don't!' Blake yelled as he jumped in order to stop me. However, I did the same thing to him as he crashed onto the floor unconcious.  
  
I turned back at Kelly's mom. 'Now where were we?' I asked evilly as I raised my sword high.  
  
'Please, stop!' A familiar female voice wailed as I turned to its source.  
  
There was Kelly. Tears were streaking down her face non-stop. 'Derek, I beg you, please stop this. Remember who you are. Remember!' She sobbed.  
  
My entire brain stopped and froze. What was I doing? What did I just do? I had attacked Shane and Blake, and was going to kill Kelly's mom. What in blazes is wrong with me?  
  
I grabbed my head in pain as I swung around in pain. 'What's wrong with me!' I demanded.  
  
My entire suit dissolved away as I knelt down in front of Kelly. I was able to mutter a faint 'Ninja suit!' as the academy clothes covered my identity before I collapsed.  
  
'Derek!' Kelly yelled as she shook my shoulders. 'Are you ok? Talk to me? Can you hear me? Are you alright?'  
  
Seeing this, her parents ran over. 'Kelly, you know him?' 'Get away, he's dangerous!' 'What is going on?'  
  
Hazely, I made out a figure raise a hand behind the three of them. Arantula! He had gotten up and was going to send out another deadly attack.  
  
'These people will be going down to hell together with me!' He laughed as the attack launched and he fell down dead onto the floor.  
  
Using the very last bit of energy inside me, I forced myself upwards and slammed all three of them down on the floor, blocking them from the attack.  
  
However, that meant that I got hit instead as a scorching pain burned through me and blood splattered in every single direction, soaking the floor with it.  
  
'Derek!' Kelly yelled as I fell down onto the concrete floors. 'Oh my god, are you ok?'  
  
I took a breath of air as I felt my entire body slowly weaken, my thoughts were starting to slip away. It was all to clear, I was dying.  
  
Suddenly, Shane and Blake ran over to me.  
  
'Who are you two?' Kelly's dad asked in surprise as they knelt down beside me.  
  
Shane's helmet reered in his direction and said coldly, 'Does that really matter now? Navy Ranger, how is he?'  
  
Blake shook his head, 'Not good. He's been hurt very, very bad. It's a miracle he's still able to breath after all these attacks.'  
  
'Guys.' I muttered softly, holding out my hand.  
  
Shane grabbed it softly. 'Don't worry bro, we'll gonna heal you up in no time. Everything's going to be ok.' He assured.  
  
I shook my head. 'Don't lie. I know what's going on.' Slowly, I turned my head to Kelly.  
  
'Kel-' I croaked as a spasm of pain hit me internally.  
  
Kelly thrusted her tear-stained face forward. 'Derek, you can't die! Please, no!'  
  
I managed a very weak smile. 'It was something I had to do, my original duty. So don't blame yourself about it.'  
  
'We're losing him, he's gonna go!' Yelled Blake as he looked at me.  
  
Every breath I took was turning into a painful effort, the life force inside me was flickering. Vision was beginning to dim slowly.  
  
With my last breath, I looked at Kelly in the eyes and murmured, 'I love you.'  
  
At that moment, I saw my own body lying there, covered in blood. Kelly was crying non-stop over my dead body.  
  
I realized it, I was just a spirit now.  
  
I was dead.  
  
Derek dead? Could it be? Hahaha. Well, check out the next chapter to find out if there's gonna be a way to bring him back. 


	16. The Reviving of the Warrior

(Doyles-always) Again and again, thanks for all the support you've given me. It really keeps me motivated to keep on writing. Real glad you enjoy reading this. Course I wouldn't let Derek die, at least not for now. Hahaha~ luv ya!!!  
  
Derek's POV  
  
'Kelly.' I whispered as I saw her crying uncontrollably next to my body. 'Don't cry.'  
  
The scene was filled with pain and sorrow as I saw Kelly bury her face on my chest. 'It's all my fault you're dead.' She sobbed.  
  
How much I wanted to fly down and comfort her like old times, but I knew it'd be impossible. I was already dead; there was nothing I could do about it.  
  
Suddenly, my soul started to pull away from the Kelly as a bright tunnel of light emerged from the far corner of the airport.  
  
Like a magnet, the tunnel came closer and closer. I had to shield my eyes from the brightness as it sucked me inside.  
  
'Derek.' Voices called out as I felt myself move forward. Slowly, I forced my eyes open.  
  
There was a huge, beautiful doorway with flowers decorating it in front of me. Standing next to it, were many of my dead relatives. Both sets of my grandparents, my aunt, all smiling and waving at me.  
  
It only took me a few seconds to see them. 'Jeff! Sensei!' I yelped in joy as I saw the two of them also waving frantically. The other members of the academy were behind them also.  
  
'I don't believe this!' I gasped as I ran over to Jeff and Sensei as they both gave me a big-bear-hug, happy tears were glistered from my eyes.  
  
Jeff looked the same, as I had also knew him. 'It's good to see you bro.' He grinned.  
  
I was about to reply when suddenly, sensei cut in.  
  
'Jeff, perhaps we'd leave the greetings for later.' Then he turned to me. 'Derek, there's someone who'd want to meet you.'  
  
I raised my eyebrows in confusion as I nodded.  
  
Rather then going through the huge door, sensei led me away from it. 15 minutes later, we arrived in some sort of temple.  
  
'Derek, go in.' Sensei jestured as he smiled at me.  
  
'Where is this place?' I asked, but obeyed as I saw sensei shake his head, insisting that I head inside first.  
  
The whole temple was magnificently built, stone blocks piled upon one another as a bright light shone from a huge hole in the center of the celing.  
  
Suddenly, a figure floated towards me, as I strained my eyes for a better look.  
  
Its appearence resembled that of a man's. Rippling muscles filled his body as warpaint was smeared upon his face. A long broad sword hung from his back. Despite his mighty and majestic features, he smiled down at me kindly.  
  
'Greetings, young chosen one. Your name is Derek, am I correct?' He asked.  
  
I had meant to answer him, but was rendered speechless as I simply nodded.  
  
'Hahaha!' The man laughed, 'Very well. Very well indeed. Do you know who I am?'  
  
I looked at him and shook my head, still finding it hard to speak.  
  
The smile on his face didn't lessen a bit. 'I don't find that surprising. My name is Sarough, the god of justice. I'm the one who-'  
  
Suddenly, I remembered what Kanoi had told me during my adventure in Blue Bay. 'You're the one who made the seven ninja morphers.' I exclaimed. Then I noticed my rudeness and quickly apologized.  
  
'No matter.' He laughed. 'That is correct, I'm the creator of the ninja morphers.'  
  
I looked up at him in admiration. 'If I may ask, why am I here?'  
  
'I wanted to speak to you before you returned to reality.' Sarough said simply.  
  
I nodded my head slowly. 'I understand, ab- WHAT?'  
  
The wise man chuckled merrily. 'Yes, you shall be going back to your world. Surely you don't want to be dead, do you?'  
  
Instantly I shook my head. 'Of course not. Anyway, what did you want to say to me?'  
  
'I had wanted to know whether your mentor was right to have chosen you, now I know that there is no way for him to be wrong.'  
  
I smiled sheepishly. 'Well, he um, didn't have much of a choice. You see-'  
  
'Yes, I know the story, but trust me, I have faith in your abilities.' He smiled. 'Back to what I was saying. Technically, you were killed while trying to save others. Because of your bravery and courage, I shall bend the rule once. However, do keep in mind that I will not do this again if you shall ever be killed.'  
  
Nodding in agreement, a small part of me seemed to relax slowly.  
  
Then, Sarough opened his huge palm and placed it before me. Inside was some sort of weapon.  
  
'This is my gift to you, Derek: The Tornado Spear. It was once used against the worst kinds of evil throughout the universe.' He explained.  
  
I took the long spear into my arms and tried to do a twirl with it. The spear however, did not listen to my actions as it clattered onto the ground.  
  
Sarough laughed merrily again. 'The Tornado Spear is not an ordinary weapon, it has a mind of its own. You will have to train with it in order to win its trust.'  
  
'So what you're trying to say is, that I need to train? Now?'  
  
'There's no time like the present. Hurry up now, we haven't got much time. First, gently raise the spear to the same level as your heart.'  
  
Shane's POV  
  
'Derek dead? How could this be?' The question continued to swirl across my head as it started to sink in. We had lost a teammate. Ninja Storm was back to its original number of 6.  
  
Blake took one last look at Derek as he stood up as well. 'We have to get back to Ninja Ops.'  
  
I nodded in grief. 'Let's take Derek back with us. At least let the others see him for one last time, let sensei do his ritual.'  
  
Gently, Blake and I picked up Derek's body and lifted him slowly off the ground. We were about to teleport, when the girl Derek tried to save grabbed me.  
  
'Wait, where are you taking him?' She asked between sobs.  
  
'We will be giving him a small ritual back in our headquarters.' I said quietly, 'He shall be returned once we've finished.'  
  
'Could I come along?'  
  
Who is this girl anyway I thought. 'No, I'm sorry. Navy Ranger, let's go.'  
  
Even before the girl could protest, we sped off back to Ninja Ops.  
  
The place was empty when we arrived, sensei must have gone to meditate. Carefully, we laid Derek onto one of the mattresses, still finding it impossible for him to be dead.  
  
Suddenly, we heard sounds outside as we headed out. The guys were sweating and panting, lyring around as they got some rest. From their looks, it was clear they had defeated another of Lothor's monsters.  
  
'Dudes, you're back!' Dustin whistled as Blake and I walked over. 'You already settled Derek's problem? How'd it go?'  
  
Blake looked at me in pain as I nodded my head.  
  
Taking a deep breath, Blake whispered 'Derek's gone.'  
  
'What do you mean he's gone?' Hunter asked, a look of confusion over his face.  
  
'Derek's dead.' I croaked.  
  
'No!' gasped Tori as she cupped her hands over her mouth in shock.  
  
'This isn't some joke is it?' Cam questioned suspiciously.  
  
I saw Blake's fists clench in anger at Cam's words. 'Do I look like I'm joking?' He roared.  
  
Cam seemed to realize his mistake as he quickly apologized. 'I'm sorry, Blake. How did this happen?'  
  
'Derek changed into some sort of monster while fighting, then got injured badly as he turned back. He died while blocking a hit meant for the civilians. Blake and I took him back here so sensei could give the "Fallen Warrior Ritual". I replied.  
  
'I'll do it.' A voice said suddenly as out heads turned to its source, only to see sensei at the entrance, a wave of sorrow over his face. 'Dustin, Cameron, get the necessary materials. Shane, bring over Derek's body.' Sensei ordered as I rushed off.  
  
Derek's POV  
  
'Haiyah!' I yelled as I danced around with the spear clutched in my hands. The past few hours were past in a hurry as I learned the main moves for using the Tornado Spear. Sarough continued to guide me as I progressed forward.  
  
He clapped loudly as I did the final move, a swift but powerful thrust forward. 'Good. Very good. You are a natural warrior, Derek.'  
  
I grinned widely as I retracted the spear. 'That's it? I learned all the moves?'  
  
'Definitely.' Sarough smiled. 'Well, then I believe it's time for you to return to where you belong. Earth still needs you.'  
  
'Sarough, sir? I really want to thank you for all you've helped me with. I really appreciate it.'  
  
Sarough nodded. 'You're most welcome. Anyway, there's something you'll need to know before going. The battle ahead will be filled with danger and hardship. It'll take determination, courage and strength to get through them. No one knows the fate of the world, but you will be essential in changing it. Do you understand?'  
  
'I won't let you down.' I assured.  
  
With a wave of his hands, I was transported back to the opening of the huge door. Sensei and Jeff was waiting for me yet again.  
  
'Derek, you're back.' Said sensei. 'We know the story already. Don't worry, all of us shall be blessing you here.'  
  
I nodded at sensei as Jeff stepped forward. 'He's right bro. I'll be waiting for you here.'  
  
Before I could even answer them, bright light enveloped me once again.  
  
Shane's POV  
  
We placed Derek's body in the centre of the main chambers as we formed a circle around him. I still couldn't believe that Derek was actually dead, it just happened all to suddenly.  
  
Sensei stepped up onto Derek's chest and started muttering an ancient chant, what it meant was a mystery to us as we watched in silence.  
  
Suddenly, sensei stopped and turned towards us. 'Funny, Derek's body seems to be warmer then it was a few moments ago.'  
  
'Dad, that isn't possible.' Remarked Cam as he started to walk towards the corpse.  
  
Even before either of them could speak, Derek's body suddenly jerked up, sending sensei flying across the room as we all jumped back in surprise.  
  
'What the hell is going on?'  
  
Derek's POV  
  
I sat up and opened my eyes, only to see myself in Ninja Ops, the others were staring back at me in terror and surprise. Dustin looked as if he was gonna faint any second.  
  
'Guys, it's me, it's ok.' I grinned as I jumped off the small table.  
  
They looked at me suspiciously, I could see that they were still not convinced. Tori walked up and sort of poked me with the tip of her finger. The next thing I knew she was hugging the daylights out of me!  
  
'Derek, you're alive! It's a miracle!' She yelled happily as the others quickly joined her around me.  
  
Shane grabbed me by the shoulders and shaked me hard. 'How on earth did you do it, bro?'  
  
'Yes, Derek. I'm sure we'd all like to know.' Kanoi said as he jumped onto the table, brushing dust off himself.  
  
'Sorry bout that.' I said timidly. 'Well, the god of Justice, the maker of the morphers, Sarough sort of gave me a second chance.'  
  
'What? You met him, in person?' gasped Hunter with envy, 'That is sooo sick, man!'  
  
Blake nodded in agreement. 'Oh yeah!' He suddenly said, 'There was this girl who wanted to come with us when we insisted to take you here, do you know her?'  
  
Damn! I thought, I totally forgot about Kelly.  
  
'Do you know what happened to her or anything?' I asked quickly.  
  
Shane looked surprised by my actions as he scratched his head. 'Well, uh, no.'  
  
I glanced down at my morpher. 'Guys, I gotta go. Thanks a lot for everything, I'll contact you later.'  
  
'Derek, w-' started Dustin, but I already started to teleport before he could finish his sentence.  
  
A few moments later, I re-emerged from the bathroom of the airport. Everything around looked normal already, except for the ceiling which I broke. I ran around the area, searching for Kelly, but she was nowhere to be found. Slowly, I started to grow worried. What if something happened to her during my absence, could she be captured by the Insectrons, or worse, tortured?  
  
In panic, I used my ninja senses silently and strained every muscle inside me to detect her "qi" (air or spirit energy in Chinese). To my relief, I sensed her beyond the customs, that must mean that she would be boarding the plane every minute.  
  
Knowing that I had limited time, I ran back to the toilet in a hurry and quickly teleported inside. Able to sense her "qi", I soon found Kelly standing near the big glass windows, her eyes were still wet with tears. Just her look itself tore my heart to shreads.  
  
Silently, I walked up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder gently. 'Excuse me, miss.'  
  
No word could discribe the look on her face as she turned to look at her. Sobs racked up inside her as tears gushed out of her eyes again. 'Derek!' She yelled as she embraced me.  
  
I patted her gently as she cried uncontrollably into my shoulder, people around kept shooting strange looks at us. 'It's ok Kel, I'm fine. I'm alive.' I whispered.  
  
'How? You- How did you come back?' Kelly asked as soon as she regained control over her voice.  
  
She listened in amazement as the story of meeting Sarough and the training of the Tornado Blade unfolded.  
  
'That's about the whole thing!' I breathed.  
  
'Thank goodness for Sarough then. You got me so worried the whole time.'  
  
I grinned in agreement, 'Well, I'm back now, and better than ever.'  
  
'Passengers for flight 12 please enter through gate 4.' Announced the attendant as everyone got up and headed in the same direction.  
  
Kelly looked at me, her eyes containing something I had no idea what it was.  
  
'Listen, don't worry about anything now, I'm already ok. Take care over there, gimme a call or something when you land, k?' I said in a voice I thought was completely stupid.  
  
She nodded slowly. 'I'll miss you.' Again, she hugged me once more.  
  
With that, she walked over to the gate. I gave her one last wave as she turned back to look at me. A feeling was churning inside me, for what I didn't know. Perhaps I felt as if a part of my body had left me with the departure of Kelly.  
  
'Well, she's going to a safer place, a place without me.' I sighed.  
  
Being dead once didn't just tell me how quick life could end, it also aged me by several years. I knew all too well, that the demon inside me had to be kept contained. There wasn't an excuse good enough to let it out anymore. Was there?  
  
First of all, I know this chapter is really cheesy and it sucks. I know it does, I really hated it while writing, but it was something I had to do. My apologies for this. In order to keep up with the time, I'll be setting the time of the next chapter half a year later. Stay tuned. 


	17. Burden of a Ranger

(Doyles-always) Again and again, a trillion thanks for the review. Don't worry, I'll keep up the good work!  
  
Half a year after the previous chapter.  
  
'Power down.' I panted.  
  
Swirls of light covered my body briefly as my ranger suit dissolved away. 'Power down complete.' I glanced down at my watch and cursed silently under my breath. 6:45! If I didn't hurry back home, my parents will roast me for sure.  
  
As if getting ready for something, the Insectrons launched an incredible number of attacks these past six months, each monster stronger than the last. If it wasn't for the Tornado Evolution and the spear, I would have been long dead.  
  
However, handling these attacks meant less time to do other things in my life. I come back tired and battered after every fight, too tired to even study. As a result, my grades fell by a great deal. I admit it, I'm not actually the bright one in my class. Sometimes I think I'm even stupid.  
  
My parents on the other hand, took this quite seriously. I had already gotten scoulded for tons of times, the topic was always my grades. I don't blame them though. Deep inside, I know that the exam I had this year was essential to my future. I would only stand a chance surviving in society if I passed well. Nevertheless, all this constant nagging really gets into my nerves.  
  
Silently, I opened the front door to my apartment as quietly as I could and tried to sneak back to my room. No such luck!  
  
'Derek Ho! Where in blazes have you been?' My dad roared from the couch, his eyes glaring angrily at me.  
  
I shrugged, how was I supposed to answer him?  
  
'Sit down, we need to have a talk.'  
  
Great, just what I need. Another session of all-the-things-I've-done-wrong! What did I do to deserve this?  
  
'Alright.' I sighed heavily as I plopped down on a chair. 'What's the matter?'  
  
'We just recevied a call from your class teacher. That's the matter!' Mom yelled as she walked out of the kitchen.  
  
Ok, a phone call. I'm dead, big time!  
  
Dad continued to glare at me. 'He said you failed three subjects at school, saying that you don't put enough effort into them. Explain!' He boomed.  
  
'Well, I probably just didn't study enough. I'll work on it, ok? I'm going for a shower.' I said.  
  
'Stay right where you are! Son, we've been through this again and again, why don't you ever listen? Can't you see this year is completely essential to you?' Mom said.  
  
Dad nodded in agreement. 'You're mother's right. You always say you'll work harder, but we all know the truth. You never come back home early, and when you're back you're dirty and bruised. Have you been joining gangs?'  
  
On other days I would've been totally fine, but the tiredness of the previous battle irritated me badly. Bit by bit, I felt my anger burning. 'Listen!' I snapped, 'I've already told you I'll work harder. If you don't believe me, that's fine! And how many times do I have to tell you? I am NOT in a gang! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going upstairs.' With that, I turned away at started towards my room.  
  
'I didn't say we're finished yet, and watch your attitude young man, it's your parents you're talking to.'  
  
My fists started to clench again. 'What the hell is wrong with my attitude?' I roared in anger, it was all too late before I realized that I had said something wrong.  
  
This seemed to anger both of them. 'I am warning you one last time.' Mom gritted, 'You change that attitude of yours right now, or else you leave this house. Am I understood?'  
  
That was the last straw! 'Fine! I don't care anyways. You guys don't even think of all this from my point of view, do you have any idea how hard it is for me? I hate you!' Tears were starting to gush out as I tried my best to hold them in.  
  
Suddenly, Dad walked over to me and without warning, slapped me hard across the face. The impact was so big I fell down onto the floor. Blood dripped from the corner of my lip.  
  
Ignoring the pain rushing both inside and outside me, I glared at my father. His eyes softened as he looked at me. 'Son.' He gasped.  
  
The next thing I knew, I was running down the street, vision blinded by tears.  
  
'Derek, I didn't mean to!' Dad's voice howled down the street as he chased after me. I covered my ears and kept on running.  
  
For how long I ran I didn't know, my legs had a mind of their own as they took me away. To where I didn't care, as long as it was somewhere other than home. Finally, my legs started to ache as I slowly stopped to catch my breath.  
  
Peering at my surroundings, I realized I had ran over to my favourite place up the hills, the same place I lay whenever I felt depressed or angry. The intention to hold in my tears were long gone as I knelt down on the soft grass I cried, the scenes of all my bitterness and pain flowing out.  
  
'Bad day, huh?' A voice whispered behind me.  
  
I twirled around in surprise so fast I toppled down onto the ground. 'Wha- sensei?'  
  
Before I knew it, I was spilling everything out. All the pain, all the sorrow, all the things I had to go through while being a ranger.  
  
'Why?' I yelled at the top of my lungs. 'Why can't anyone understand?'  
  
Sensei floated towards me. 'Derek,' He whispered gently, 'Sometimes we have to do things that others wouldn't understand. We just don't do things because we want people to think from our point of view, all we need is to know that what we're doing is right.'  
  
'But why did I have to be the one chosen? Among all the others, why did I have to be the one?'  
  
'That, on the other hand, is fate.' Muttered sensei. 'There was a special reason you were chosen to take on this burden. I know you didn't choose it, but it chose you in turn. And as for me, I saw it inside you the first time we met.'  
  
My mind couldn't help spinning as I stuffed everything inside my mind, a fresh surge of guilt burning deep below. 'Sensei, I-'  
  
He gave me another one of his rare smiles, 'Derek, no one ever said being a ranger was easy. All these responsibilities you already have and some more, I know it's hard for you.'  
  
Sensei continued to give me lectures and advice as my eyes drifted towards the starless sky. Suddenly, my morpher started to ring. Peering at the screen, I felt as if I had just swallowed a dozen ice cubes as my insides froze with fear. 'A large group of Insectoids were heading towards my home!  
  
'What's wrong?' asked Sensei as he looked at the shocked expression on my face.  
  
I had to practically stutter as I spoke. 'The Insectrons must know where I live now, they've sent an army of troops over to my house. I gotta get back there fast, my parents are still there.'  
  
'Derek, this might be a trap. Be very, very careful!' Sensei warned as I got up from the grass in a hurry.  
  
I turned my head back at him. 'I know, but my parents are there, I can't let anything happen to them.' Without a moment to spare, I activated my morpher. 'Tornado Storm, Ranger Form!' 'Tsunami Cycle, Surf Mode!' In a flash, I rushed over back to my house.  
  
I was in mid-air when I saw a large number of Insectoids swarming around the area. Peering in closer, I was able to make out a larger monster commanding the foul soliders. Metalar!  
  
As silently as I could, I jumped down onto the roof and peered inside.  
  
About ten Insectoids had my parents surrounded. Slowly, Metalar grabbed my father by the throat and flung him against the wall.  
  
'Where's your son?' It rasped.  
  
A stab of pain pierced my heart as I saw dad's eyes shut in pain. 'What do you want with Derek? Please, don't hurt him.'  
  
His reply only caused Metalar to tighten his grip. 'You didn't answer my question.'  
  
'We- we don't know.' Mom stammered in fear.  
  
Metalar released dad and flung him across the room, then turned around to leave the room. Before that, he turned back his head. 'Kill them!' He ordered.  
  
At that moment, I could sense myself changing. Life motion became slow, I practically saw the lives of my parents at stake. Only I had a chance to save them, one chance alone. Before I knew it, my instincts ordered me to react as I flung a handful of Hurricane Shurikens down at the Insectoids.  
  
The armored maniac turned around just in time to see me leap down from above. 'Hurricane Ranger! You finally show up!' He hissed.  
  
'You were lucky last time, but your luck is out this time.' Sword drawn, I prepared to fight. 'Leave the house now!' I ordered my parents.  
  
Metalar's eyes gleamed behind the helmet. 'You killed Arancha, his deed shall be done today.' With a mighty roar he thrusted his gigantic broad sword forward.  
  
A shower of sparks emitted as our blades came in contact with each other, I heaved Metalar's sword away as he attempted to crush me into a corner. Quick as I could, I used the wall as support to flip overhead, sending down my sword at Metalar's skull in the process.  
  
To my surprise, the helmet he wore completely deflected the attack as I fell down onto the floor by the impact. 'Not in much shape, eh?' mocked Metalar as he jabbed his foot at my chest, causing me to yell out in pain.  
  
All the events of the whole day weakened me by a great deal, as I was getting exhausted bit by bit . With his armor on, there was only a slim chance for me to be able to defeat Metalar.  
  
'You-are-pathetic!' panted Metalar as he crushd his foot deeper into me. As quick as a flash, I shot another handful of shurikens out of my morpher, knocking him backwards as they exploded.  
  
With the heavy guy off me, I leapt back up. 'Time to even up the score! Panther Booster, Tornado Evolution!' My energy started to slowly flow back as the Tornado Armor clamped onto me.  
  
Metalar stared in amazement as he saw with his own eyes the amazing power. 'This is impossible!' He gasped, gripping his sword extra tight.  
  
A hollow laugh escaped my throat, 'Surprised already? Then you're about to die from shock buddy! Tornado Spear!' Cracking energy shook the ground as the spear materialized out of thin air.  
  
Without a single moment to spare, I charged at Metalar. He tried to duck away frantically, but failed as I rammed into him, knocking the metal maniac a few feet away.  
  
The battle continued to rage on as Metalar continued to be cobbered around. 'Crash!' I heaved him out of the house as it crashed out the walls, landing on the concrete road.  
  
'It's time you joined Arancha!' I announced as Metalar struggled to stand up. 'Tornado Spear, charge up.'  
  
Metalar reered back his head and let out a roar of unbounded fury. 'I will not tolerate this! I WON'T!'  
  
The spear started to glow as I took a step back. 'Thrusters full power! Spear flash!'  
  
A hole appeared on Metalar's body as the spear slashed through. I looked back at my enemy, ready to see him explode. However, I was surprised to see that he was still standing.  
  
'My Lord, grant me power!' He whimpered in pain. Slowly, a worm wiggled out of nowhere and bit Metalar. Soon enough, he started to grow, higher and higher, until I seemed what looked like a pebble to his massive size. 'Die, Power Ranger!'  
  
My thrusters bursted alive once again as I sprinted away from death, but only by a few inches. Cursing softly under my breath, I called up the Panther Zord.  
  
Metalar was coming in for another stomp as my faithful partner jumped onto the scene, knocking him back and giving me the time to jump inside. 'Alright, let's take care of this quickly, Panther! Torricane Megazord power up!'  
  
'With pleasure!' The panther replied as it started to change into warrior mode.  
  
The Megazord wasn't even fully formed when Metalar charged ahead, thrusting his blade forward. Sparks grazed the cockpit as we fell down onto the ground.  
  
As soon as I got us up, the Megazord delivered a punch directly at Metalar's chest, only to find him laughing as the impact knocked us down all over again. 'Nothing can penetrate my armor, ranger. Give up!'  
  
'Derek, think of something quickly. Power levels are down by 60%.' Warned the panther.  
  
'I'm thinking, I'm thinking!' I panted as we were sent flying away, crashing down onto a building.  
  
I was knocked off my chair as everything around gave off small explosions. Ducking to the right, I avoided a slice by the Tornado Spear as it fell down onto the floor with a 'clank'. However, I found a round object slightly poking out of the spear as I picked it up.  
  
My face shone with triumph as I saw that a power disc was attached to the handle of the spear. Giving it a slight yank, I slid it into the Sphere Generator. 'Shark Spear, locked and dropped!'  
  
At once, a spear in the resemblance of a shark appeared from a blue power sphere. 'Your victory ends here Metalar!' I announced as Metalar closed in.  
  
'Is that so?' He roared.  
  
'Shark spear, Jabbing Jaw Attack!' I cried as the Megazord hurled the spear like an Olympic champion, flying through the air as Metalar stuffed out another cry of pain.  
  
My senses told me that I needed something more in order to win this war. 'Tiger Fang, Lock and Drop!' Quickly, I combined the two weapons together. 'Spiral Combo! Fire!'  
  
I could practically see Metalar's eyes widen in fear as the combo delivered its fatal attack. The next thing I knew, all that was left of Metalar was its foul stench.  
  
Relivied, I relaxed on my seat, enjoying the victory I earned.  
  
Suddenly, bolts of energy shot through the air as they converged onto the rooftop of a building. Reering the zord over, I peered over to see whom it was.  
  
What I saw was a hooded figure, glaring up at the zord, at me! Slowly it began to point a gnarling finger at me. 'You destroyed two of my generals! For this you shall pay!'  
  
It took no longer than a second for me to realize whom this figure was. Lord Centaron! The king of the Insectron Clan!  
  
'This is only the beginning of my invasion, you just wait!'  
  
Before I could even figure out what he was saying, a bolt of deadly power coarsed through the air, firing directly at the cockpit.  
  
The explosions that happened moments ago was nothing compared to what happened inside now! Small fires were burning everywhere. What the strangest thing was, that I felt my energy drain once again. Instantly I reverted back to my Hurricane suit.  
  
I was thrown out of the cockpit as Centaron fired another attack at us. My powers continued to fail me as I demorphed in mid-air, the ground swirling around. The last thing I heard was the panther's cries of pain as everything went black.  
  
'Honey, he's waking up!'  
  
Next was the sound of continuious shuffling footsteps. Slowly, I opened up my eyes. Through blurred vision, I made out the faces of my parents looking at me, their faces filled with worry.  
  
'Son, are you alright?' My mother asked while wiping off my sweat with a towel.  
  
I tried to focus, thinking hard on what had just happened.  
  
Dad sat closer to me, I saw that his lip was trembling. 'Derek, first of all, I'd like to apologize.'  
  
'For what?'  
  
'We- we never knew you were going through all this. All this time we've been wondering where you went after school, fearing that you were getting into trouble. Then we focused all too much on your studies, saying that you didn't have a sense of responsibility, while not knowing that you were carrying a heavy burden on your shoulders.' Dad said.  
  
They couldn't have learned about my secret, they couldn't! 'What do you mean?'  
  
'We know you're the Hurricane Ranger.' Mom replied simply. 'We saw you fall from that robot during the fight, and carried you back inside before anyone could see you.'  
  
Dad slowly put an arm around me, 'How did all this happen?'  
  
And like all those times before, I told them everything from the beginning. Training, Sensei, Insectrons, Academy destroyed, Morphing.  
  
Both of them listened in amazement as I continued on, neither seemed to find the right words to say after I'd finished.  
  
Same as always, mom was the first to break the ice. 'So you've been a ninja all this time? Saving the world from an evil insect population?'  
  
'That's about it.' I sighed.  
  
Dad had tears welling up in his eyes. 'Our son, the Power Ranger! I can not believe it.'  
  
Then something flashed across my mind. 'That brings up something else. You can never tell anyone about this, no one. Not even to our relatives.'  
  
'Don't worry son, you're secret is safe with us. Also, we're so proud of you.'  
  
It was only until then, that I realized how much my parents loved me. For the first time in a long time, I felt a love I thought no longer existed inside me.  
  
All of today's events did not weaken my desire to continue fighting, it only strengthened it. The day would come, when I'll bring the whole world back to its peaceful state, even if it meant sacrificing my own life.  
  
'Centaron, prepare to go down!'  
  
Ok guys, first of all, I have a few things clear out. Most of you are probably thinking that this fic is going downhill cause the stories are getting boring and cheesy. That's what I thought while squeezing my brain dry to think of what to write. Cause of this, and my increasing workload, the next chapter might take a lot longer than usual. My apologies for this, but I gotta think of some new elements. I wish you all the very best during this period. Until then, see ya! Keep watching! 


	18. Signs of Help

'Mr Ho! Will you please try to stay awake?'  
  
Instantly my head jerked upwards, the half-tilted chair completely falling back as I toppled onto the floor. Dazed, I rubbed my head and looked around, only to see everyone laughing and sniggering at me.  
  
'Oh, sorry bout that.' I said automatically, 'It won't happen again.'  
  
The teacher glared at me from his spectacles, magnifing his angry eyes. 'I sure hope not, or you'll be serving a whole week in detention.' With that, he turned away and headed back to the front.  
  
It wasn't before long when the bell rang and everybody started to pack up and leave. Issac approached me as I stuffed a handful of notes into my backpack.  
  
'That was a close one. What's wrong with you anyway? Feeling alright?' he asked in concern.  
  
'Must've been that attack at my house a few days ago. The strangest thing is, I wasn't able to contact or even locate panther anywhere after that. I hope he's fine.'  
  
He gave me a playful punch, as he always did when he wanted to comfort me. 'Don't worry, I'm sure he'll be ok.'  
  
Then suddenly, he glanced at the window and rushed over. 'Wow! Check it out bro!'  
  
Thinking that he saw something strange, I ran over. 'What?'  
  
'The girls are here! You know, for that examination.'  
  
I rolled my eyes as I looked at him. 'So what? You see girls everywhere, what's the big deal anyway?'  
  
Issac grinned but continued to glance. 'This is a boy's school, how often do you see girls around this joint?'  
  
'Even if you did see a girl you like, then what? They're two years older than we are, do you think we'd get a chance to score?' I asked, continuing to roll my eyes, 'I think not!'  
  
This finally persuaded him to stop goggling at them for a moment. 'You mean you're not gonna fall for a girl even if she's gorgous just because she's older than you?'  
  
'That about sums it up.' I nodded.  
  
He faked a phony voice as the girls passed by downstairs. 'Well, excuse me. I've business to attend to.'  
  
Giggling softly to myself, I headed down to the basketball court, which to my delight was empty. Settling my bags down, I started practising my moves.  
  
From blocks to chops, jumps and flips, I seemingly flew around the area. Inside, I knew that the Insectrons were getting stronger and stronger. All I could do now was to prepare myself better so I'd be ready.  
  
The sun was already starting to set when I finished. Thick streams of sweat covered my body as I panted under the dimming sunlight. Walking back to the main campus, I was surprised to see that almost the whole school was deserted.  
  
Not wanting to stay behind too long, I ran off to the gate.  
  
'Ow!'  
  
It was all too late when I realized that there was someone in front of me. With a loud 'thump', a stack of books fell to the floor, including a human body.  
  
In panic, I instantly stopped to a halt. 'Are you ok?'  
  
To my astonishment, I found a girl kneeling on the floor.  
  
'I'm terribly sorry. Didn't see you there, are you alright?' I asked as I knelt down also to pick up the books around the floor.  
  
'Don't worry about it.' She said simply as she stood up.  
  
It was only until then did I get to see her clearly. She was short, with long black hair tied into a ponytail at the back. Somehow, she strangely resembled Kelly.  
  
'Thanks.' She said as I handed her the stack of books. 'You study here?'  
  
Immediately, I broke out of my own daze. 'Oh, yeah. I guess you're here on that examination?'  
  
'You bet. By the way, my name's Amanda. Nice to meet you!'  
  
'Oh, where are my manners?' I laughed. 'I'm Derek. Nice to meet you too!'  
  
Suddenly, I noticed that one of her books had fallen apart in the process when I knocked her down.  
  
'I'm so sorry about your book. Let me buy you a new one.' I said, picking up the pages that had scattered over the place.  
  
She smiled, making herself seem even more like Kelly; the resemblance was simply shocking! 'Oh, it's alright. You didn't do it on purpose.'  
  
I was also amazed at how her character was like Kelly; it was almost as if a clone was standing before me. 'I insist, at least it'll make me feel better.' I half-joked.  
  
At that moment, my morpher started to beep as I quickly shielded it with my sleeve.  
  
'What's that?' Amanda asked, peering down in curosity.  
  
Gotta think of something fast! 'Oh, that's a prototype called Bio-link. It reminds me whenever I'm late for something.'  
  
'Well, you better get going then.'  
  
Quickly, I fished out a piece of paper and scribbled onto it. 'Look, I'm really sorry bout all this. Here's my number.' I said, as I handed over the scribbled note. 'Give me a call anytime and I'll get the book.'  
  
With that I sprinted away and found a small bush. Safely storing away my bag, I wasted no time and morphed.  
  
'Tornado Storm, Ranger Form!'  
  
Cries of pain filled my ears as I landed saftely onto a nearby rooftop. Glancing down, I was surprised to find that a number of civilians were yelling and screaming at the top of their lungs. Looking more closely, I was able to see that their hands had been transformed into some sort of hard-shelled claw.  
  
Fearing that something worse would happen if I didn't act quickly, I jumped down from the roof. A few Insectoids yelled out in surprise as I knocked them down, flipping upward to avoid being diced.  
  
Suddenly, the pawns retreated backwards, their heads bowed deeply. From out of nowhere, a monster in the form of a scorpion appeared, it's pincers clicking menacingly.  
  
Knowing that this would not be an easy opponent, I lashed out my sword.  
  
Grinning with great evil, the creature opened his mouth. 'Violence will not solve the problem, Hurricane Ranger.' It growled, 'I'd take it easy if I were you.'  
  
Scowling, I aimed the blade at him. 'There's only one way to deal with scum like you, my way!'  
  
Shaking his head, the monster clicked its claw. Immediately, the screams around stopped as the civlians gathered behind. 'Attack!' It roared, and before I knew it, all of them ran towards me with incredible speed.  
  
'Get away!' I yelled as they surrounded me, one piling onto the other. It was too late when I realized I had stepped into a trap. With everyone losing their consiousness, I couldn't hurt them even if they attacked.  
  
Aiming my time carefully, I jumped away from the raging crowds, only to be stuck with another. There was absolutely no way for me to fight back!  
  
The scorpion knew this as well as he laughed in triumph. 'Seems that I, Scorpithon will be the one to defeat you, Hurricane Ranger.'  
  
Leaping away from another group of people, I rolled a few yards away from danger. It was clear that I'd had to regroup before planning my next action. Picking up a smoke bomb from my buckle, I threw it to the ground before anyone could get closer.  
  
Using this time, I quickly scaled a nearby building and climbed to the roof. 'Why the heck did those people get infected?' I thought as my nerves began to relax slightly.  
  
All the way home, I kept thinking about the situation, but was surprised to see that I had no way of knowing how to save the civilians. Lying in bed, the truth that I had been outsmarted slowly started to sink in. With endless thoughts coarsing through my mind, I finally dozed off.  
  
It was already daylight when I had woke, my head still groggy with sleep. Flicking on the TV, I was shocked to see that a few dozen people had been infected during night. The news showed a clip of the monster releasing some sort of wave that somehow got the people under his spell. 'Victims are identified to be extremely violent and strong.' The reporter said, 'The police advise that everyone stay indoors and keep doors and windows shut. Also, authorities are seeking the help of the Hurricane Power Ranger.'  
  
Like I could do anything about it, I thought bitterly. For the next few hours, I just stayed at home, not clearly knowing what I should do next. Suddenly, my phone rang, knocking me back to the real world.  
  
'Hi, Derek, it's me, Amanda.' The voice over the line said.  
  
'Oh, hi!' I sputtered, clearly amazed that she'd really call me. 'Sorry about the book, I wasn't able to get it yesterday.'  
  
She laughed slightly, making me think that I said something really stupid. 'Don't worry about it. Anyway, I know a place where the books are a lot cheaper, if you really insist on buying me one, care to come out?'  
  
Alright, she's asking me out, no way! 'Um, yeah, sure thing.'  
  
An hour later, I was standing near Central Plaza, head looking in a new direction every second as I waited for Amanda.  
  
'Hey!' She yelled, running up to me in a huff. 'Sorry I'm late.'  
  
I grinned a little, act cool! 'Nah, I got here early. Didn't think you'd like to come out during these situations. I mean it's kinda scary.'  
  
Still panting slightly, she grinned also. 'Well, they're on the other side of town, I think we'll be safe.'  
  
'I sure hope so!' I joked. They'd better not appear, or I'm really gonna get mad.  
  
Sometime later, we got out of the bookstore, each carrying a stack of books.  
  
'See? I told you they were cheap.' Amanda laughed as we walked down the pavement.  
  
Raising the bag in my hands, I lifted them up. 'I believe you now, just look at my trophies!'  
  
We talked a little more as we continued to walk. Hobbies, interests, almost everything.  
  
'How bout a drink?' She suggested as we arrived at a little café, soft music played from a corner. 'My treat. A little thanks for the book.'  
  
'Sure.' I agreed, heading inside.  
  
No sooner then we sat down, my morpher started to beep again. Peering down, I saw that Scorpithon was right in the area. He must be trying to lure me out, brainwashing more people on the way.  
  
Immediately, I jerked up. 'I think I left something at the store. Will you help me keep an eye on these first?' I asked, gesturing at the bag. 'I'll be right back.'  
  
'Sure, take your time. I'll order first, what do you want?'  
  
'Anything's fine.' I yelled as my feet quickly rushed out the door. Hiding myself behind a huge pillar, I morphed. I may not be able to defeat him, but it's worth a try.  
  
A huge number of civilians were scattered around the scene when I arrived, their pincers deadly and sharp. Behind them, Scorpithon stood.  
  
'Yo! Back off!' I cried as I stood before them.  
  
The monster gleamed at the sight of me. 'I was wondering when you'd show up. Kill him!'  
  
At his command, dozens of people rushed at me. Expertly, I jumped, rolled and dodged, avoiding as much as I could. However, I grew tired soon as more and more of them formed a blockade around me. I was trapped!  
  
'Hahaha!' Scorpithon laughed as I was held still by the civilians. Slowly, he walked up to me, and without warning, lashed out his pincer, knocking me a few feet away.  
  
Another group held me still as I struggled to escape, but failed. Again and again, I was hit by Scorpithon, my powers beginning to weaken.  
  
Releasing his foot, I hit head first into a wooden table. Clearing away the daziness, I realized that I was outside the café, the people inside peering out with fear.  
  
Raising his sting, Scorpithon growled in triumph. 'This is where I destroy you. Say goodbye!'  
  
At that very moment, I closed my eyes, awaiting for death's fatal strike. Suddenly, loud music blasted in the background as I felt the hands around me loosening.  
  
Forcing my eyes open, I saw that the people were somehow reverted back to normal! I was able to strike back once and for all!  
  
'Alright, Scorpithon! Time to take you down!' I growled, twirling the Tornado Spear in my hands.  
  
Filled with surprise and anger, Scorpithon charged as well.  
  
Deafening sounds fired away as our weapons clashed again and again, the speed of our actions so fast they were nothing more but a blur of glinting light.  
  
'Tornado spear, katana mode!' I cried as the spear divided into two parts, narrowly blocking the energy blast Scorpithon fired.  
  
Taking a small step backwards, I threw the swords up into the air. Seeing the creature distracted, I leapt forward and unleashed my ninja blade, slicing it near the mid-section.  
  
Ignoring the cries of pain, I jumped up to retrieve the two airborne weapons. 'Raging Tornado!' With a sear of pure energy, Scorpithon flew back, smoke fuming away from its body.  
  
'You think you've won this round? Think again!' Sneered Scorpithon as it struggled to stand up. With a snap of its pincers, a rumbling shook the ground around me.  
  
Looking up, I was petrified by a nasty shock.  
  
'Panther!'  
  
There it was, my faithful partner, charging onto the scene. Only this time, its mission was to destroy me.  
  
'Activate Tornado Megazord Sequence!' ordered Scorpithon as the zord shifted into warrior mode.  
  
As fast as I could, I jumped up to one of the taller buildings, hoping I'd be able to snap my zord back to its senses.  
  
Waving my arms, I yelled constantly as the zord slowly approached me. 'Panther, wake up! You're under some sort of spell. It's me, Derek! Panther!'  
  
My pleas didn't seem to take up an effect as the megazord kept advancing, until the very last few feet, it stopped.  
  
Gushing with hope, I walked forward. 'Panther! Way to go!' I cheered.  
  
It happened so suddenly I didn't even notice until I felt myself falling. I had been tricked! My body plundged onto the ground as the building collapsed. The impact was so hard I didn't even have the time to flip up as I landed face down onto the rubble.  
  
Trying as hard as I could, I staggered up using every last bit of energy inside. 'Panther!' I yelled, rasing my head up to my partner. 'Please, snap out of it! Remember! Remember all we went through together!'  
  
Still, the huge zord kept on walking. As its shadow loomed over me, I knew that all was lost. Shutting my mind down in dispair, I awaited death as the zord's huge foot prepared to land on me.  
  
Before I could sense what was happening, the same melody from before rang across the area. Carefully, I waited for anything to happen, still mustering enough courage to know what was going on.  
  
'Derek, what's going on?' A familiar voice cried. It didn't take long for me to recognize the voice.  
  
'Panther!'  
  
As if some miracle working its magic, my zord broke out of its spell.  
  
Nearby, Scorpithon gasped in disbelief. 'This is not possible!'  
  
I was already safely secured inside the cockpit when Scorpithon finished. 'Oh yes it is! And it's even possible for us to take you down. Lasers, fire!'  
  
Immediately, the beams shot down from the megazord, fuming the area with smoke. Hoping to see Scorpithon destroyed, I glanced down.  
  
From out the rubble, a crippling Scorpithon emerged, it's body covered with smoke. 'Hurricane Ranger, we'll leave this fight for now.' With that, he vanished into thin air.  
  
'Derek,' spoke Panther, 'I'm sorry. I guess I was too weak. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have gotten hurt.'  
  
I gave a small smile at the zord's words. 'Panther, listen. It wasn't your fault, this could happen to anyone. Don't blame yourself, ok?'  
  
Soon after that, I sprinted back to the café, hoping that Amanda was alright. Tables were still upturned, plastic littered the floor as I came up to the entrance.  
  
'Hey!' I called out, seeing her still sitting down. 'Sorry bout that. The police blocked the area and my phone ran out of batteries.'  
  
'No problem.' She grinned, 'But it was so scary back there. Hey! I thought you were going to get the book, where is it?'  
  
Uh oh! Think fast! 'Uh- oh yeah, it was here all along, I remembered when I was walking to the shop.' I blurted out.  
  
To my relief, Amanda didn't ask any further questions.  
  
As we continued talking, my head flew elsewhere. There was clearly someone helping me back there. If it wasn't for that music, I would've lost again. Who was that person?  
  
Could this finally be an ally? 


	19. Fighting the Wild Part 1

(Doyles-always) Thanks a lot. I'm back now, and some new elements are starting to spring into mind. Stay tuned!  
  
'Wow, that part sure scared the hell outta me!' joked Amanda as we walked out of the theatre together.  
  
Ever since we first met by accident, Amanda and I hung around from time to time. Slowly, I sensed a feeling inside me; a feeling words couldn't discribe. Was I actually starting to like her? Or was it just because she looked like Kelly?  
  
'C'mon, that part was totally predicted. What was so scary about that?' I demanded, knocking away any useless thoughts inside my head.  
  
We kept making jokes, teasing each other until we arrived at her place.  
  
'Well, thanks for the movie Derek.' Amanda said as she walked across the street backwards.  
  
'Yeah, anyt-' My senses rocketed upwards suddenly as I tugged her by the arm, yanking her forwards against my shoulder as a van rushed passed, the driving cursing at the top of his lungs.  
  
I turned my head to see if she was alright, only to see her staring at me, a strange look on her face. I tried to speak, but the words just wouldn't come.  
  
There we stood, eye to eye. Moments went by, but neither of us moved. Without realizing it, I felt my head move forwards. Amanda seeing this, did the same.  
  
My mind was numb as I saw her face getting closer and closer. Sucking in all my courage, I silently accepted whatever was in store for me.  
  
'Beep beep beep beep.'  
  
The ringing of my morpher knocked us both back to reality as Amanda immediately backed off, her face blushing a crimson red. 'I'll..... I'll see you later!' She stammered, running as fast as she could into her house.  
  
Shaking myself off, I hid in a corner and pressed the button. 'Derek here.'  
  
'Derek?' The voice over the line crackled. 'It's Shane.'  
  
It was a bit of shock to hear the voice a fellow ranger suddenly. 'Shane? What's the matter? Is everything all right?'  
  
A note of panic covered his words as he spoke. 'Not really. Are you busy with anything? We could definitely use some help.'  
  
'No problem. What's the case?' I asked, surprised to see that the guys were in such an urgent situation.  
  
'I'll fill you in when you get here.'  
  
Nodding to nobody, I straightened up. 'Hang on, I'm on my way. See you guys at Ninja Ops.' As soon as the connection was off, I contacted Panther for aid.  
  
'Panther, I need to head back to Blue Bay. Think you could lend me a hand?' I asked.  
  
Panther of course, got ready to take off immediately. Checking that the coast was clear, I changed into my ninja suit.  
  
The zord took off as soon as I ran inside. Fearing that we'd be spotted if we took flight, I decided to go underwater. Hopefully, we'd be able to get to Blue Bay undetected.  
  
'Derek, what's going on?' Panther asked as we sped through currents and waves.  
  
I shrugged, clearly not knowing how to answer the question. 'I have no idea, but it sounded really serious. We'd better go faster.'  
  
Half an hour later, the zord docked near a steep hill, shading us from anyone else. Not wanting to waste a further moment, I headed straight over to Ninja Ops.  
  
Skidding to a halt in front of the waterfall, I realized that I didn't have the password inside. Absent mindly, I ran straight forward, only to hit solid rock, the pain knocking me down.  
  
Through the daze of pain, I made out the figure of Tori walk out from the waterfall. 'Derek, you alright?'  
  
Brushing myself off, I nodded. 'Yeah. So, what's going on?'  
  
Tori jestured at the waterfall, as I followed her inside. Shane, Dustin, Cam and Kanoi were all inside as I went into the dojo.  
  
'Derek, you're here.' Kanoi said as I gave him a slight bow.  
  
Looked around, I saw that Hunter and Blake were missing. 'Where're the Thunders?'  
  
'No idea, dude.' Said Dustin, a grave look covering his usually goofy jestures.  
  
'Ok, can anyone please tell me what's going on here?' I demanded.  
  
Cam frowned, and pressed several buttons on the computer. 'See for yourself.' He said, as a screen of the Wind Rangers fighting Kelzacks came on.  
  
'There were a bunch of Kelzacks attacking the countryside this morning, we were sent to stop them.' Explained Shane as the last Kelzack disappeared.  
  
I scratched my head in confusion. 'But you defeated them.'  
  
Pointing to the screen, Shane sighed. 'That's when it happened.' From the screen, I saw that a small explosion blew the rangers off their feet. As the camera zoomed out, I made out five figures.  
  
Five figures in different colored costumes. Red, yellow, blue, black and white. Their helemts designed like animal heads, claws sprouted from the tip of their gloves. A small saber was attached to their belt.  
  
'Those aren't rangers are they?' I blurted as the costumed figures fought the guys, and gained the upper hand in no time at all. Soon, the Wind Rangers were forced to retreat as the screen went blank.  
  
Turning to face me from his chair, Cam spoke. 'As a matter of fact, they are.' He pressed another button, and it showed some clip of those costumed figures fighting some monster. 'They are the Wild Force Rangers. Before we went into action, they were the ones responsible for protecting the planet.'  
  
'Them?' I questioned, not clearly believing what I heard.  
  
'Cole Evans, Red Ranger. Taylor Earlheart, Yellow Ranger. Max Cooper, Blue Ranger. Danny Delgalto, Black Ranger and Alyssa Enrile, White Ranger. The five of them fought a band of evil beings who tried to destroy the environment called Orgs.' Cam explained, as the screen continued to show various clips.  
  
Dustin scratched his head. 'If they were rangers, they why would they attack us? It just doesn't make sense.'  
  
'That', Kanoi replied, 'Is the real mystery, Dustin.'  
  
Suddenly, the alarm sprang to life as every single head inside the dojo turned to the screen.  
  
'Great!' muttered Shane as he saw what was going on.  
  
Blake and Hunter, both morphed, were being flattened by the Wild Force Rangers.  
  
'C'mon guys!' Tori said in a hurry. 'We have to help them.'  
  
Cam turned around once again from the screen. 'You guys go ahead first, I'll see if I could get any further information.'  
  
Getting myself ready, I nodded. 'Then let's do it guys! Tornado Storm, Ranger Form!'  
  
'Ninja Storm, Ranger Form!'  
  
'Ninja Ranger Power!'  
  
Hunter and Blake were ready to fire the Thunder Cannon when we arrived. Quick as we could, Shane tried to wrestle the thing away from Hunter.  
  
'Get away Shane!' Hunter demanded, trying to pry him off.  
  
Shane continued to struggle as the others tried to help. 'No, you don't understand. They're Power Rangers.'  
  
This caused Hunter and Blake both to take a step back in surprise. 'What?'  
  
'They're the Wild Force Rangers, the team of rangers before us.' Tori explained quickly.  
  
'Is that right, guys?' Dustin asked the five figures, as they stood before us.  
  
In a blaze of light, their costumes vanished, only to be replaced by five ordinary humans. Each of them wore a different colored vest.  
  
Shane suddenly took a step forward. 'Tell me, why did you help Lothor?'  
  
The rangers remained silent, but a small smirk appeared on each of their faces.  
  
'Why?' Shane repeated. 'Aren't you protectors of peace like ourselves? The warriors of justice?'  
  
Without warning, the five of them burst into laughter, laughing non-stop until tears formed in their eyes.  
  
'Warriors of justice?' Taunted the red ranger, a muscular man with a red bandanna on his forehead. 'Don't you guys feel ashamed by saying this? And what's that got to do with us?'  
  
Dustin turned to Shane. 'You don't think they've lost their memory?' He whispered.  
  
A tall blonde woman, the yellow ranger grabbed Dustin by the helmet and jeered at him. 'We've lost our memory? Silly!' Then she added to the others, 'Guys, why are we wasting our time with these little kiddies?' With that, she flung Dustin backwards as he toppled to the floor.  
  
'We're not kiddies!' Tori demanded furiously, 'We've had numerous battles with Lothor before.'  
  
The blue ranger laughed, 'Sorry to offend you babe. But it's the truth.'  
  
'Our hearts are all dyed pure black, black as coal.' The black ranger, a big tall guy added.  
  
My fists tightened slowly, an anger rising. 'What?'  
  
Shaking her head, the white ranger finally spoke. 'You guys still don't get it? How dumb!'  
  
'I don't know what's going on here,' Growled Hunter, 'But it seems that all your minds have been twisted.'  
  
The red ranger put a hand onto his chest. 'That's right. We, have already sold our souls to evil. That clear enough?' As an evil, hollow laugh escaped his throat.  
  
I saw Shane tremble in anger as he launched forward, grabbing the red ranger by the collar and lifting him up. 'Quit joking. Tell me the truth!' He demanded furiously.  
  
The next thing I saw was Shane lying on the ground, a series of scars running down his suit. I lifted my head up, only to see the red ranger re- morphed, deadly claws extending from his glove.  
  
'You ok?' I asked as Shane stubbornly got up, smoke still simmering from his body.  
  
The rangers turned their heads to us. 'Now it's time we took you down.' And without warning, they lifted their hands up into the air. 'Crystals, return to us!'  
  
Like magic, five colored spheres fell from the sky, straight into the open palms of the rangers. Immediately, the five of them placed them into their daggers and raised them high above their heads.  
  
'Wild zords, descend!'  
  
A beautiful tune rang across the area as the skies suddenly rumbled and shook. All of us raised our heads upwards as the rumbling got closer.  
  
'Over there!' Tori cried out suddenly, pointing a finger to the skies. For real, we could see five metallic animals approach.  
  
I shook my head in disbelief. 'Zords?'  
  
'Cam, send over the zords right away!' Hunter ordered, rasing the morpher to his mouth.  
  
'But,' Shane choked, trying to make out words to stop him.  
  
Hunter grabbed Shane and shook him slightly. 'Face it, they're our enemies now. Cam, quick!'  
  
At the same time, my own morpher started to beep.  
  
'Derek!' Panther called, 'There are a bunch of humans here, should I ignore them and get over?'  
  
This was just perfect! 'Uh- Stay there for now, and get here straight away when it's clear.'  
  
'Don't worry! Dustin yelled from the Lion zord, 'We'll be able to hold them off.'  
  
As if hearing his words as well, the five animal zords merged together and formed a megazord.  
  
'Guys, let's do it!' Shane yelled from his cockpit, 'Storm Megazord!'  
  
Laughing dangerously, Blake and Hunter did the same. 'Thunder Megazord!'  
  
The sun was already starting to drop below the horizon as the zords faced each other, the glittering sunlight dancing off each of their steel bodies.  
  
The Thunders got ready for battle as the megazord of the Wild Force rangers approached, Shane however, still didn't want to fight, causing the Storm Megazord to suffer an attack.  
  
'Shane, forget about it!' Roared Hunter angrily, 'They're already our enemies.'  
  
After that, the Thunder Megazord charged, weapon raised. With a huge slash, it sent the huge zord backwards, sparks bouncing off its body.  
  
However, that didn't seem to take it down as it straightened itself up. Without warning, five beams emitted from the body as lazers fired directly at the Thunder Megazord.  
  
Hunter and Blake screamed in pain as they were knocked down to the ground, the megazord clearly damaged badly.  
  
'That's it!' Shane yelled angrily, 'No more nice guy. Lightning mode, engage!'  
  
At command, the Storm Megazord thrusted itself forward at incredible speed, jumping around the area to confuse the enemy.  
  
However, the Wild Force Megazord seemed not to notice all this, looking at one single direction the whole time. It suffered a triple hit as lightning mode aimed its blade at the head, legs and torso.  
  
My fingers started to cross as the guys were only 25 seconds away from reverting back to normal. Suddenly, the same tune from before rang across my ears, followed by a series of rumbling. I turned towards the source, only to see a gigantic elephant.  
  
Immediately, it formed together with the megazord to form some sort of sword and shield. Without warning, it reered itself into a striking position, as if waiting for prey.  
  
The next thing I saw was a enormous explosion followed by a large 'Crack'. With a fall that shook the ground, the Storm Megazord lay sprawled across the ground.  
  
Slowly, a huge shadow loomed over it as the Wild Force Megazord approached, preparing to deliver its fatal blow.  
  
My whole body tensed up as I flipped out the Panther Cannon, if Panther couldn't make it here on time, I'd have to try to take it on alone.  
  
As the huge elephant sword lowered in a single swift motion, I wrapped my finger round the trigger and was about to fire, when-  
  
'Megazord, NO!'

Who's screaming, and why have the Wild Force rangers sold their souls to evil suddenly? Could someone be behind all this? Next chapter coming up soon, stay tuned!


End file.
